`Noisy' wedding may have sparked shootings
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One of the shooting victims is taken from the restaurant. Photo: Matt Black Productions |
A gunman shot seven people at a wedding reception, apparently because he thought their party was too noisy. Les Kennedy writes
The bride had been through three dress changes - the first a white wedding gown, the second a traditional dancing dress. Nhac Quach's third dress was for her departure with her groom, Kiet Di, and she had also slipped on a small imitation tiara.
After a long day of traditional Vietnamese celebrations, they were about to leave Cabramatta's New World Seafood Restaurant at 10.50pm on Saturday. Then the shooting started.
A gunman armed with a semi-automatic pistol opened fire on the 130 wedding guests, shooting seven of them - an eight-year-old boy, five men and a woman. Other guests and four members of a band dived for cover.
But it seems the shooting was not triggered by a dispute between criminal gangs, a gatecrasher, nor even an aggrieved wedding guest.
Although Cabramatta police say they are still in
the dark about the motive, the talk on the streets yesterday was that the gunman
had complained about noise from the wedding party. This man, who police
described as East Asian, had been attending an unrelated banquet in the same
300-seat restaurant, above a fabric shop in John Street.