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Gun involved in death of Bliss n Eso actor loaded with blanks, band's management says

No live ammunition was loaded in the weapon which killed stuntman and actor Johann Ofner during filming of a music video for Australian hip hop group Bliss n Eso in Brisbane’s CBD, management for the group says.

The 28-year-old Gold Coast man was shot in what police called a “workplace incident” in underground bar Brooklyn Standard just before 2:00pm on Monday.

Management for Bliss N Eso this afternoon released a statement with further details on the incident.

“The exact cause of Johann’s fatal injury is still to be confirmed, but as the gun was loaded with blanks, not live ammunition, the cause was not a bullet or live round,” the statement read.

“All of the appropriate permits were in place for the filming.

“A licensed armourer was on location at the time to monitor the four firearms on site [one imitation, two handguns and one shotgun].

“Only professional stunt people were used in the scene that involved prop guns.”

The statement said the scene being filmed at the time of the shooting was for single Friends Like You.

It described the clip as a “sliding doors fictional story that contained a secondary scene depicting the robbery of a poker game”.

“The poker segment was the final scene to be filmed after a week of filming and was the only scene to feature weapons and was a minor part of the overall storyline,” the statement read.

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“The song and the video is about having a positive friend or influence in your life that helps you to overcome personal hardships and adversity.

“The music video was written as a short film where multiple story lines based around the theme of the song intersect at the end to ultimately depict a positive outcome against all odds.

“Anti-violence messaging has been a continued theme in the band’s music since forming in the late ’90s.”

Queensland Police Service Acting Detective Superintendent Mick O’Dowd said the investigation still had a long way to go

“Interviewing witnesses I expect will take another couple of weeks,” he said.

“Examination of any items that have to be examined scientifically again will take another couple of weeks a month or maybe longer then ballistics and those type of things so it’ll be sometime before a report will be prepared — or finalised anyway.”

Brooklyn Standard will remain closed tonight but should reopen Wednesday afternoon.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.


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