A woman is dead and a man has been seriously injured following an outburst of violence involving a major car crash, multiple alleged carjackings and a shooting.
Police said it started with a crash in the southbound lanes of the Bruce Highway at Palmview about 12.10pm on Monday.
They believe a red Porsche Macan crashed and caused a collision, which involved multiple vehicles.
A man armed with a gun got out of the Porsche, approached a white SsangYong Rexton and shot the male driver in the arm, police said.
Investigators do not believe the two men knew each other.
The man with the firearm then allegedly stole the Rexton, fled the crash site and later hijacked another car before being arrested near Steve Irwin Way.
Two people caught up in the collision who were in a different car were badly injured, with a a 22-year-old Upper Mount Gravatt woman later dying and a man taken to hospital.
The first stolen car was found crashed in Landsborough and police allege the man then stole a grey Mazda 3.
Queensland Police Chief Inspector Jason Overland said a young male doing driver training with his mum and dad were inside that car when it was “hijacked”.
“I’ve given up trying to work out why,” Mr Overland told reporters at Caloundra.
“It’s just a tragedy and we’re doing all we can to address what’s left.”
He asked drivers to be patient as police were processing three separate crime scenes.
In an update on Monday evening, police said the driver of the Porsche, a 41-year-old Tewantin man, remained under guard at hospital in a serious condition.
They said the Porsche was not stolen and the driver was the registered owner.
Two crime scenes are continuing to be processed by forensic officers.
The southbound lanes of the Bruce Highway were closed, with police advising at 6pm they had reopened.
Anyone with information about what happened has been urged to contact investigators.
