May 24, 2015
A new $9 million bridge at Caboolture has been officially named after former Yarraman police officer Perry Irwin who was killed in the line of duty more than a decade ago.
Snr Sgt Irwin was aged just 42 when he was ambushed in bushland and shot dead by a violent drug addict who earlier in the day had boasted he was going to “shoot coppers”.
Damien Coates, 21, then shot himself dead.
At the time, Snr Sgt Irwin was Officer-in-Charge of Caboolture Police Station but prior to that had served at Bribie Island and for almost a decade as the local officer at Yarraman.
The 100m-long bridge across Lagoon Creek is within a kilometre of where Snr Sgt Irwin was shot on August 22, 2003.
The first vehicles across the bridge after the official opening ceremony on Sunday morning were from a local car club.
Members of Snr Sgt Irwin’s family were special guests at the opening.
