Two teenage boys are due to face court after allegedly opening fire at three cars in a small town in southeast Queensland, near the site of the Wieambilla shooting in December.
Detectives have charged the 16-year-olds with seven offences including discharging a weapon in a public place, dangerous conduct with a weapon, unlawful weapons possession after the emergency incident in the town of Tara, west of Brisbane, on Wednesday afternoon.
The boys had already been charged with refusing to be interviewed by police after being arrested with two other boys, aged 15 and 14.
The pair have been denied bail and are due to face the Dalby Childrens Court.
"It will be alleged that three civilian vehicles were struck by projectiles. No one was physically injured," police said in a statement on Thursday.
The 15-year-old was dealt with for weapons offences and wilful damage under the Youth Justices Act, while the youngest boy was released without charge.
Officers said initial information indicated that teens fired at least eight or nine shots at three vehicles on Smallacombe Street about 3.30pm on Wednesday.
The bullets struck the car windscreens, and police confirmed there were several pedestrians in the area when the shots were fired.
Police made an emergency declaration and called in 30 officers from across regional towns including Roma, Kingaroy and Toowoomba to respond.
Superintendent Ray Vine said the incident was extremely serious.
"People could have been seriously injured or worse as a result of this incident," he said on Thursday morning.
"It's completely unacceptable and reckless behaviour during this thing which happened, like a month after the (Wieambilla) incident."
Tara is about 40 kilometres from the Wieambilla scene of the deadly ambush that ended with the deaths of six people in December 2022.
Police Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow were shot dead after pulling up to a rural property for a welfare check.
Neighbour Alan Dare was also gunned down in a confrontation sparked when conspiracy theorists Gareth Train, his partner Stacey Train and brother Nathaniel Train opened fire upon their approach.
The trio were later shot dead by police.
Supt Vine said it had been confronting for police officers forced to deal with a second incident involving firearms in a matter of weeks.
"Their heroics and their results to protect the community and maintain community safety, given the events of five and a half weeks ago, is remarkable," he said.
"It's quite confronting to deal with two incidents in a short period of time in a small community."
