Shots fired, police car rammed after high-speed chase in eastern suburbs (2025)

A man is in custody after a high-speed car chase through Sydney’s eastern suburbs early on Saturday morning climaxed when police fired shots at a stolen Audi hatchback, which then rammed a police vehicle.

Detective Superintendent Jodi Radmore, commander of the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command, told reporters police noticed the dark-coloured Audi A1 driving erratically along Old South Head Road in Rose Bay about 4am on Saturday.

“They started to follow that vehicle and they attempted to have the vehicle pull over, at which point it accelerated away,” Radmore said.

“A pursuit was initiated, which lasted for a very short period of time and was terminated due to the manner of driving. A short time after that, the vehicle was located in the streets in Bondi, a police officer approached the vehicle to speak to the driver, at which point, the vehicle accelerated towards the officer, [and] the officer discharged his firearm.”

The incident involving two police officers occurred on Sir Thomas Mitchell Road in Bondi.

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Police said the driver of the Audi then rammed a police vehicle and drove away, leaving it in a hidden location in Murriverie Road, Bondi.

A member of the public found the damaged car and reported it to police at 6.30am. Checks later revealed it was stolen from Double Bay on Friday night.

A 37-year-old man who is known to police was arrested nearby soon afterwards, but charges are yet to be laid. He was taken to hospital for an assessment and police will resume their inquiries after that concludes.

Radmore said a driver of a stolen car endangering a police officer by driving straight at him “shouldn’t be tolerated and should be dealt with by the full force of the law”, pointing out that the police might have been trying to render aid to someone potentially injured.

Asked about the use of the firearm, Radmore said police were highly trained and the decision lay with the police officer at the time of the incident.

Neighbours in Bondi heard the gunfire, telling media that several shots were fired in quick succession.

Neil Richards told this masthead he counted six shots in total – two shots, a pause and then four in quick succession.

“It’s a bit of a worry, police emptying revolvers in a very high-density urban environment just to allegedly stop a car thief,” Richards said.

“I don’t know that I’ve really heard many guns in real life,” said Hannah Lucas. “I was just very perplexed. I got up straight away and saw all the police coming and going, and they had their torches, and they were clearly looking for something.”

Etienne Calmelet said he woke up at about 4am to the sound of the police siren.

“Then I heard something like some sort of a crash, I heard someone screaming, ‘get on the ground, get on the ground’. And then one pop that I really recognised – a shot fired - then four other pops,” Calmelet said. “So, pretty crazy – not something usual here in Bondi.”

Russ Johnson said he was startled by shouting and gunshots and ran to check his children were OK.

“You don’t hear gunshots every day – at least, you think it’s a gunshot, then you think ‘maybe they’re just party bangers?’ And then you’re like, ‘Nah, it’s gunshots.’ It was a bit scary for sure,” Johnson said.

Police have called for anyone near the Rose Bay and Bondi locations with information, CCTV or dashcam footage to call eastern suburbs police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.