1984 Sydney bank robbery

1984 Sydney bank robbery
Location	Commonwealth Bank, George Street, Sydney, and the Spit Bridge, Middle Harbour Australia
Date	31 January 1984 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Target	Commonwealth Bank and the Spit Bridge
Attack type	Hostage-taking, robbery, siege, shootout
Weapons	Pistol
Deaths	1 (the perpetrator)
Non-fatal injuries	3 (at least 1 from gunfire)
Perpetrator	Hakki Bahadir Atahan
Motive	Robbery

The 1984 Sydney bank robbery and hostage crisis was an incident that took place between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on 31 January 1984 in George Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, when a 35-year-old male went on a bank robbery spree, taking 11 people hostage, before holding police at bay for several hours before finally being shot dead. The event was described as "Australia's most dramatic hostage chase"^[1] with "scenes likened to a Hollywood action film."^[2]

Perpetrator

Turkish born 35-year-old Hakki Bahadir Atahan was unemployed at the time of his armed robbery spree and had carried out around 16 or 17 bank robberies between March 1983 and January 1984.^[1]^[3] Atahan lived an expensive lifestyle renting a luxurious penthouse apartment in Manly, owned several expensive cars and robbed up to three banks a day, amassing over A$150,000 in a year.^[2]

Events

On the morning of 31 January 1984, Atahan had successfully robbed two or three banks before entering the Commonwealth Bank in George Street, Sydney.^[3]^[1] Due to the earlier robberies, police were on high alert and quickly responded to the Commonwealth Bank robbery with dozens of heavily armed tactical police, forming a perimeter. During negotiations, Atahan fired at least two shots from a pistol and released all the bank's customers. Some time later, Atatan released four female bank staff whilst keeping five male staff as hostages.^[3]

Some two-and-a-half hours later, Atahan ended negotiations and emerged from the bank encircled by the five hostages, each of whom were forced to place a hand atop of the robber's head. This tactic caused confusion and prevented police marksmen from obtaining a clear view and thus depriving them of the opportunity to shoot him. Atahan forced the five hostages into a nearby Datsun sedan which had its keys left in it. He then forced a hostage to drive off through police roadblocks, which began a pursuit that lasted several hours and involved 39 police cars, a police helicopter, and four Water Police launches.^[1] After two hours of driving around, Atahan released a hostage and collected his 23-year-old girlfriend Sharon Oliver.

Upon reaching the Spit Bridge, police raised the bridge, preventing Atahan from travelling any further. Detectives from the Special Weapons & Operations Section (SWOS) approached the vehicle, ordering Atahan to surrender. Atahan fired his pistol at point-blank range at Detective Senior Constable Steve Canelis, striking him just above his nose.^[3] Other officers returned fire, killing Atahan.^[2]^[4]

Aftermath

The incident, including news footage from the time, features in the 2009 Australian TV series Gangs of Oz, Episode 4 – Armed and Dangerous.^[5]

Casualties

Detective Senior Constable Steve Canelis – shot in the face at point-blank range, but survived.^[6]
Two hostages – rushed to the hospital with undisclosed minor injuries.
Hakki Bahadir Atahan – shot dead by police.

References

External links

The Age, newspaper article, Thursday 2 February 1984, page 6
Dangerous to Know: An Australasian Crime Compendium, By James Morton, Susanna Lobez, Melb University Press / ISBN 978-0-522-85681-1
Gangs of Oz - Episode 4 – Armed and Dangerous