Gun supplier blamed for fatal shooting on Bliss n Eso video set

The man who supplied the guns to the set of a Bliss n Eso music video set has been blamed for the fatal shooting of a stuntman.

Coroner Donald MacKenzie’s finding into Johann Ofner’s death on January 23, 2017, revealed that armourer Warren Ritchie had been reckless by providing firearms and ammunition that were not authorised for theatrical productions.

Ritchie, who owned Fireworks Down Under, died of a terminal illness in August 2019.

The coroner said if Ritchie was still alive, he would face “criminal” manslaughter charges and face a maximum 10-year prison term.

Ritchie would also have faced charges of unlawful possession of a handgun, the unlawful supply of a handgun and a breach of work health and safety duty causing death.

“The critical lesson from this tragedy is that Mr Ofner died because of criminal actions.

“His death was avoidable,” MacKenzie said.

The video for the hip-hop act’s ‘Friend Like You’ traced a $50 note journeying between a child, an old man and an underground poker game.

In the poker scene, a dispute erupts between the players.

Ofner’s character approaches another to pistol-whip him and is shot instead in the chest at close range by a shotgun, which the man grabs from his waistband.

Ritchie provided eight guns for the shoot at the Brooklyn Standard bar in Brisbane’s Eagle Lane.

Four were chosen: a shortened 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun, two nine-millimetre blank-fire pistols and an M11 model replica sub-machine.

Johann Ofner

Ofner, a finalist in Australian Ninja Warrior, died of heart failure caused by the force of a bullet.

The stuntman who fired the shot, Shinji Ikefuji, was absolved from blame.

Bliss’n’Eso was not at the shoot when the tragedy happened and the video production company was not charged.

The coroner found Ritchie supplied illegally obtained “homemade” shotgun shells which did not contain steel projectiles but still had ignition powder, cloth wadding and a plastic casing.

He described the training and safety for the video production as inadequate.

There was no safety officer or firearms safety briefings, he said.

Neither was there a test run with the firing to establish that the actors were at a safe distance.

Safer options such as computer enhancement or inoperable firearms were not considered.

Under Queensland weapons regulation, the weapons supplied by Ritchie under his ordnance supply licence must have been blank fire or permanently inoperable.

“Clearly the shortened shotgun that was fired killing the deceased was neither,” MacKenzie said.

“The use of a plastic wad and a fibre filler in the shotgun cartridge shell created a projectile, so this sawn-off shotgun could not be considered inoperable.”

He noted that due to his terminal illness, Ritchie was taking prescribed opioid medication.

“There is an inference to be drawn that he was unwell at the time of his death, which affected his judgment,” he suggested.

“I have made recommendations to the Queensland government regarding legislative reform and improved training and supervision of theatrical armourers.”

They included the Queensland government reviewing the laws around weapons relating to blank fire munitions.

Queensland Police should set up a division to oversee the role of theatrical armourers and introduce standards for qualification including training and testing.

He also recommended the Office of Industrial Relations create a code of practice for armourers, which included outlawing the use of operable firearms and non-blank firing weapons in theatrical performances.