This Anchor Interviewed A Fleeing Fugitive

It's not every day that a news cameraman scores an exclusive interview with a criminal suspect while said suspect is still on the run. That's what happened when an armed fugitive interrupted an Australian 7News cameraman and confessed the entire crime — before changing his mind and carjacking the news team's car and crashing it. The incident has to be one of the most bizarre that the 7News team has ever seen, and even though it was undoubtedly traumatic, the whole ordeal might have been worth it for cameraman Peter Steer, if only to have the best bar story ever.

In an interview with his own news station, Steer said, "For a cameraman, it's the sort of stuff that you dream of."

So this is how it went down. At around 4:40 a.m. on Thursday in Australia, a woman was allegedly attacked in her home in Noosa Heads. The suspect apparently jumped on his Harley Davidson motorcycle before police arrive to the scene. Around the same time, the 7News team was heading over to the house in Noosa Heads to report on the incident. However, on the way there — and you really can't make this stuff up — the fugitive had a change of heart and decided to flag the news team down. That's when cameraman Peter Steer got the interview of his life.

Steer recounted to Yahoo's 7News:

I got to a little town called 'mundi [Eumundi] and a chap on a Harley (Davidson) sort of pulled me over, I thought there might have been something wrong with my car. He got off his bike and approached me and said, "I've got a story for you." I said, "Well mate, you better hurry because I'm going to a shooting," and he said, "Mate, I'm the shooter."

Steer went on to record the man, who was wearing a leather motorcycle jacket and long beard and had blood on his hands, as he broke down in tears and confessed to the crime, saying, "I've done an extremely bad thing" and then, through sobs, "I just hope she's alright. I think she's dead."

Throughout the interview, Steer films the man and tries to keep him calm as they wait for police.

But apparently the police on Australia's Sunshine Coast can sometimes take their sweet time, because Steer kept the man occupied for nearly 30 minutes, and before law enforcement arrived, the man suddenly changed his mind again. He whips out his gun, which he claimed to be a replica (but who knows what's going on anymore at this point?), and aimed it at Steer as he carjacked the 7News vehicle.

Steer quipped to 7News reporters, "I wanted to get that shot of him with the gun, but I didn't want to get shot."

Believe it or not, this insane story wasn't over yet. A second camera, installed inside the news car, caught the wanted man crashing into a sign outside of a gas station, which caused the car to slam into the side of a giant gas tank. Yup. But it's still not over.

Steer and police caught up to the scene and the cameraman — who, by the way, should win a Pulitzer for his steady camera work during a time when most people would have been freaking out — films a chaotic scene in which several officers aim their guns at the man and shout for him to get down on the ground.

But the man, looking increasingly deranged, trots along to the gas tank, smiling. Eventually, the officers are able to handcuff him, but man, what a day.

In the end, the 45-year-old suspect was charged with a whole slew of things, including one count each of attempted murder, armed robbery, dangerous operation of a vehicle, and unlawful possession of a weapon, as well as two counts of willful damage. I'm willing to bet that the rest of the year will seem pretty dull to Steer.

Watch the entire crazy story below.

Images: 7News