Police are investigating a suspicious fire at a hair salon business in Adelaide’s west, which they say is linked to two recent arson attacks and a shooting incident.
Key points:
- Police were called to the business blaze just before 5:00am
- The estimated damage bill is around $20,000
- Police said the fire was linked to two recent arson attacks and a shooting
Police and fire crews were called to a block of three businesses on Clark Terrace at Seaton just before 5:00am this morning following reports a hairdressing salon was on fire.
It is believed to be the third arson attack in less than a week and follows reports of shots being fired at a house in Adelaide’s south on Monday.
Yesterday, police said some of the people involved were linked to the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, but it was “not a wider conflict between bikie groups”.
No-one was injured in the latest incident and police estimate the damage bill to be around $20,000.
Neither of the adjacent businesses were damaged in the fire, but Clark Terrace was closed for several hours.
Crime scene examiners remain at the scene.
Edward, who lives near the Seaton salon, said there was a lot of police activity at the scene this morning,which was not normal for the neighbourhood.
“They’re probably just checking out whether the neighbourhood is safe and there’s no criminal activity,” he said.
“There hasn’t been any criminal or any other sort of activity that would make the police be here.”
Police said the incident was related to a food truck being set alight last Thursday and a suspicious fire at a gym in Marleston the following day.
Emergency crews were called to a property at Mile End about 3:30am on Thursday, where they found a kebab van on fire in the front yard of a property.
Timeline of events:
- Thursday, August 8 about 3:30am: Kebab van set on fire in front yard of Mile End property
- Friday, August 9 about 1:20am: Marleston gym gutted by fire on Marker Avenue
- Monday, August 12 about 8:00pm: Five shots fired at a house at Ascot Park
- Wednesday, August 14 about 5:00am:Seaton hairdressing salon set alight on Clark Terrace
It was followed by reports of a fire which gutted a gymnasium on Marker Avenue in Marleston on Friday at about 1:20am.
On Monday night, police were then called to a shooting incident at a house in Ascot Park.
Five shots were fired at the house in Adelaide’s south about 8:00pm, but police said the occupants did not appear to be involved in “any criminality” or the “conflict itself”.
Serious and Organised Crime Branch Detective Superintendent Mark Trenwith said no-one was injured in the shooting incident and police believed all of the incidents were related to a drug debt.
‘We remain flexible and vigilant’
Yesterday, Superintendent Trenwith said a lack of cooperation in investigations had made the situation tough for police but they remained confident of arresting those responsible for all the incidents.
He also sent a message to those involved in the recent violence and crime.
“It certainly doesn’t stop us, and we have had a great deal of success in recent years tackling overt crime and intimidation by Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs,” he said.
“We remain flexible and vigilant when policing this form of organised crime whether the criminality is violence or drugs or some other issue — we will keep the pressure on them.
“Our message to those engaged in this violence is that we’ll be relentless in our pursuit of getting justice in relation to these offences.”
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Source: ABC