Cola Hills massacre

The Cola Hills massacre was a mass murder that occurred on 13 January 2012 when a lone gunman, Andrew Coalsley, killed 33 people and injured 37 others in Cola Hills before killing himself in Sunshine Coast.

The series of attacks began in mid-morning in a storage yard behind Leeds Museum, and moved to the Orange Pansy Museum, Leeds Transport Museum, and Waterfall station, sparking a major manhunt by Leeds City Police, with the assistance of officers from Home.

Coalsley, a 50-year-old local bus driver for Leeds Buses, later shot himself after a 2-hour stand-off between him and police on Cocoa Promenade in Sunshine Coast, which led to Sunshine Coast been put under lockdown as well as Cola Hills. He had driven over from Cola Hills after carrying out his attacks, and abandoned his vehicle on East Bridge after the police began chasing him.

One guns were recovered from the suicide site. Another was recovered from his car. They were two Smith & Wesson Model 500 revolvers, both used in the mass shootings. A blood-covered butter knife, believed to have been used in the Waterfall station stabbing, was also recovered outside the station.

The Cola Hills massacre was part of the Friday the 13th events.

Leeds Museum storage yard shooting
The incident began at 1040 GMT on 13 January 2012 after two workers at Leeds Museum and a further three bin men were shot dead in a storage yard behind Leeds Museum, just as a bin lorry had arrived to take away the trash. It is thought that Coalsley set it up for this time on purpose, for maximum killing.

Orange Pansy Museum shooting
Soon after the attack at Leeds Museum, Coalsley opened fire on a crowd outside the Orange Pansy Museum, who were queueing for entry, killing 6 and injuring 12. He then entered the museum and opened fire at the orange pansy, but it was undamaged due to it being surrounded by bulletproof glass. Then as he exited the museum he shot two more people, killing one and injuring the other.

Leeds Transport Museum shooting
Immediately after the attack at Orange Pansy Museum, at around 1120 GMT, Coalsley entered the Leeds Transport Museum and opened fire in the Concorde Preservation Hangar. 2 people were killed, 5 injured, and preserved Concorde (G-BOAG) suffered limited aesthetic damage to the nose and wings after a total of 38 bullets left holes in the bodywork. It was at this point that the people of Leeds realised that something was badly wrong, and a police manhunt began at 1124.

Waterfall station shooting and stabbing
The suspect then hid in some bushes and was then seen running along the railway line at Line 2. He then jumped up onto the platform at Waterfall station, and stabbed a Leeds Railways worker on the platform using a butter knife he had found along the way to Waterfall. The person was killed. Then he shot eight people on the opposite platform, killing them all, before opening fire at (and missing) a departing British Rail Class 377 (377714). Then he opened fire in the station concourse, injuring 19 and killing 10.

Cocoa Promenade stand-off
Police detected Coalsley's car, a silver Citroen Xsara Picasso, driving through Durley Chine, on his way home, at 1321. The police then began chasing him. For an unknown reason he left his car on East Bridge, leaving one gun behind and taking another with him. He ran along Cocoa Promenade, which the police evacuated as they ran after Coalsley, before he sat under a palm tree on the promenade and held his gun to his head.

For the next two hours, police gave him food and water as they negotiated with him. However, at 1534, he raised the gun above his head and fired a shot into the sky, before firing three shots into his head and falling unconscious. Police pounced on him as ambulances moved towards the scene, and they carried him to the ambulance.

He arrived at hospital at 1549. He was declared braindead the next day at around 1900 and taken off of the life support machine, as he had no chance of recovery.