From left: Kingsley Rogers, Bayles Service Station owner Stephen Bethune and Jaik Weston are still recovering after a man produced a shotgun at the garage last week. Picture: Stewart Chambers.
By Sarah Schwager
THE small community of Bayles is in shock after a shotgun was fired during a dramatic confrontation at the local service station last week.
Pakenham police said a man brandishing a shotgun entered the Bayles Service Station on Ballarto Road at 5.30pm on Tuesday, 28 March.
Owner Stephen Bethune, friend Jaik Weston, subcontractor Kingsley Rogers and a customer who did not want to be named were in the garage at the time.
Mr Bethune said he had grabbed the barrel of the gun while the others helped wrestle the man to the ground.
Mr Rogers said a shot was fired during the struggle, blowing a hole in the back of a fourwheeldrive in the garage for repair.
He said it was a terrifying experience.
“We all thought we were missing toes at that stage.
“There was dead silence. I thought ‘am I bleeding’?”
Despite being shaken by the confrontation, Mr Bethune said he wanted to assure customers reluctant to return to the service station that it was an isolated incident.
“People are unsure. They’re scared of what happened,” Mr Bethune said.
“But it was a oneoff situation.”
A week on, the men are still coming to terms with their brush with death.
“When I see guns on the telly it brings it all back,” Mr Bethune said.
“I keep having flashbacks.”
But Mr Bethune, who has owned the service station for more than four years, said those involved now had to move on and he hoped the business did not suffer as a result of the incident.
“We are trying to carry on with our lives and we are just glad no one was hurt,” he said.
“It was just a oneoff thing and hopefully we never have to go through something like that again.”
A 37yearold Kooweerup man has been charged with threats to kill and other assault and firearm offences.
He was remanded in custody to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 20 June.
