A teenager has been arrested over a horror crash that killed a woman when the young driver allegedly ran a red light in a stolen Audi before it slammed into her car.
The collision happened at Dohles Rocks Road, at Murrumba Downs, in Brisbane’s north, at 9.47am on Thursday.
The Audi slammed into a into a Toyota sedan before the vehicle collided into a police vehicle.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and quickly worked to free the 69-year-old woman from the Toyota, but she could not be saved.
The 16-year-driver of the allegedly stolen Audi was later arrested and he was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital with a significant leg injuries.
He is currently under police guard in hospital.
Queensland Police are investigating if the teenager allegedly ran a red light before the Audi crashed into the Toyota sedan.
Chief Superintendent Adam Guild said the carnage started when the 16-year-old male offender allegedly hijacked a car at gunpoint from a female victim.
Police set up cordons and patrols across the Moreton Bay area to locate the allegedly stolen vehicle, he said, but the blue Audi sedan crashed at the McClintock-Dohles Rocks Road intersection.
Superintendent Guild said the boy was known to police and described the crash as ‘high-impact’ and ‘very tragic’.
Newly elected Queensland Premier David Crisafulli issued a statement on X express his condolences to loved ones and family members of the elderly victim.
‘I am receiving ongoing briefings regarding the tragic incident that occurred at Murrumba Downs this morning,’ the statement read.
‘While the investigation is in its early stages, news of what has unfolded has been harrowing for Queenslanders, as it was for me.
‘A family is coming to terms with the loss of a loved one and the thoughts and prayers of the entire state are with them.’
Two police officers were also injured when the allegedly stolen vehicle crashed into their police vehicle.
Two other patients were also injured following the horror crash and they were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Police allegedly found a firearm in the car and Superintendent Guild said officers were at no point giving chase to the allegedly stolen Audi.
Several lanes on Dohles Rocks Road have now been reopened after motorists were advised the intersection of Dohles Rocks Road and McClintock Drive had been closed.
The Audi and the Toyota were removed from the scene by tow trucks.
One resident Todd Whisson, who lives on Dohles Rocks Road said he was about to begin his art class when one of his students spotted a car with several teenagers inside following her for several kilometres.
‘So she got to my place to park for the class and the car kept going and she thought ‘oh that’s good, they’re gone’,’ Mr Whisson told the Courier Mail.
Mr Whisson said the teenagers then came back a short time later while his student was standing outside her car.
‘They stopped and said ‘give us your car’, give us your keys or we’ll shoot ya’,’ he said.
He said his student gave them the keys to the vehicle before they took off in the car.
The police arrived a short time later to investigate the alleged incident.
‘She was in the neighbour’s house, getting comforted, because she was in a lot of shock,’ Mr Whisson said.
Other locals reported hearing a ‘loud bang’ while some recalled hearing the sound of emergency vehicles approaching scene following the crash.