On April 29, 1996, 28-year-old Martin Bryant killed 35 people in the historic town of Port Arthur, Tasmania.

He drove to the Broad Arrow caf� armed with two semi-automatic rifles. Once inside he started shooting at people leaving 20 dead.

After he went outside and shot at a bus and other passing vechiles. He then drove to a pub and sprayed it with bullets. There he seized a hostage and drove to the nearby Bed and Breakfast where he once worked.

Inside he seized more hostages. Surrounded by more than 200 police officers Bryant set fire to the cottage and ran out with his clothes on fire. He was rushed to the hospital for second degree burns. The corpses of 2 hostages were found in the ruins of the cottage, the other hostage was found dead in Bryant’s car boot.

Bryant, with a history of mental problems, was sentenced to life imprisonment. He has since then unsuccessfully attempted suicide many times. He also been suspected of other murders too, including his father whom was found in a dam with his sons diving weight around him in an apparent suicide. Another suspected victim of Bryant was Helen Harvey, who when died, Bryant inherited $500,000 from.

The Port Arthur Massacre led the Australian Government to ban all automatic and semi-automatic weapons.