Former rugby league star Garry Sullivan was arrested in Queensland after Victoria Police reopened a 1994 Chadstone Shopping Centre case, charging him with armed robbery and multiple offences tied to an alleged triple shooting involving Armguard employees. Sull
A man who once pulled on a representative jersey was taken into custody on Queensland’s Gold Coast this week after Victoria Police linked him to a 1994 armed robbery and triple shooting at Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre.
Garry Sullivan. 78. appeared before Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday following coordinated police raids across the Gold Coast that formed part of an Armed Crime Squad investigation. The case. which dates back more than three decades. is now back on track after detectives reopened it earlier this month with new information.
Victoria Police said Sullivan was arrested as part of the investigation into an armed robbery and triple shooting at the shopping centre in 1994. The raids also resulted in police seizing a number of mobile phones, two laptops and a quantity of cash.
Investigators alleged Sullivan had been living a “quiet life” in Southport for about the past 20 years. That description sits starkly against the charges now before the courts, with Victoria Police saying Sullivan’s arrest followed a public appeal for information earlier this month.
Sullivan faces charges including armed robbery. intentionally causing serious harm and causing intentional harm. two counts of intentionally causing injury. reckless conduct endangering life. theft. common law assault. carrying a pistol without a licence. and dealing with property suspected to be the proceeds of crime.
The alleged incident centers on two Armguard employees who. according to police. attended the cinema at Chadstone Shopping Centre to collect the weekend’s takings. Police allege the two employees were carrying three bags of cash when they were confronted by a single offender wearing a balaclava and armed with a handgun and a cardboard box.
In Victoria Police’s account. the then 54-year-old guard was shot in the lower legs. with the bullet striking his right ankle and deflecting into the shoe of the second employee. A 40-year-old man from Doveton who tried to help during the robbery was also shot in the leg and suffered life-threatening injuries. All three men were taken to hospital for treatment for gunshot wounds.
At Southport Magistrates Court, Sullivan spoke only to confirm his identity before agreeing to be extradited to Victoria. He is expected to be returned to Melbourne, where he will face court on June 1.
The sequence of events—an investigation reopened on new information. a public call for help earlier this month. and coordinated raids on the Gold Coast—has turned a long-dormant allegation into an immediate legal fight for Sullivan’s future. In the background remains a 1994 night at Chadstone that police say left multiple men injured and sparked a case that has now come back into the spotlight.
Garry Sullivan former rugby league star Chadstone Shopping Centre Armguard triple shooting armed robbery Southport Magistrates Court extradition Victoria Police Armed Crime Squad June 1