~light of the world~

Monday, October 22, 2012

La, what excitement there was this morning in an unlikely area - one of the driveways into the UNSW campus at Gate 2.

In the quiet of about 7:20am, a stolen black Audi getaway car was chased by several police through Kensington, finally driving through UNSW's Gate 2, where it was finally rammed by an unmarked police vehicle into a wall near Baxter College behind ASB, near the Quad.

There were apparently dozens of armed police and a helicopter to provide guidance for the chase. The police managed to arrest the driver and one of the passengers, while another three men supposedly escaped from the vehicle and went on the run. The car allegedly held several firearms, and the men were possibly part of an planned armed robbery.

This is the second time police have had to come to UNSW this month, the first occasion occurring on 11th October, coinciding with the Oktoberfest festivities going on that afternoon.

In the Chemical Science Building, two Chinese PhD students got into an argument which resulted in one of them throwing concentrated sulphuric acid in the other's face before hitting him on the head with a hammer.

The victim was rushed to St Vincent's Hospital to be treated, as well as two other bystanders who were treated for superficial burns. The victim was in an induced coma. The perpetrator has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm to the victim.

Where was I during all the excitement this morning? I was sleeping, safe and sound in IH, not 100m away from the ruckus. I know it sounds stupid, but it feels like absolutely nothing happened. When we were heading up campus to class, the only indication that something had happened was that the driveway was blocked and we weren't allowed to walk along that road. But by then, the police had already left UNSW and gone to search the surrounding suburb.

It was funny to see articles talking about how the university was in lockdown. Please, it's already past Week 13 - the only people milling around campus at that time are lower-year medical students like me who still have classes, those who have exams, and those who live on campus. There's nothing to lock down, and no one in my lecture knew what happened - not even those who live in the UNSW Village which is just next to where the whole thing happened.

Such excitement indeed - but only for a select few.

xuan blogged at 6:22 PM

May your light shine...
in the darkness...