One of the four men killed in a horrific shooting rampage across Darwin on Tuesday night was a recent university graduate from Lebanon.
Hassan Baydoun, 33, is believed to have been the first person killed when accused gunman Ben Hoffmann, 45, allegedly opened fire at the Palms Motel in Darwin about 5.45pm.
The IT specialist moved to Australia to start a new life and study at Charles Darwin University in 2009 or 2010, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
He completed a Masters of Information Technology in software engineering last year, and had recently finished building a new house.
His cousin, Abdallah Salman, said he did not know for sure if Mr Baydoun knew Hoffmann, but struggled to imagine he would have done something to provoke the man.
'He didn't have enemies, he was a lovely person and an easygoing guy,' he said.
Hassan Baydoun (pictured), 33, is believed to have been the first person killed when accused gunman Ben Hoffmann, 45, allegedly opened fire at the Palms Motel in Darwin about 5.45pm on Tuesday
Witnesses say Hoffmann allegedly shot through every window at the Palms Motel on Tuesday night, while calling out for a man named 'Alex'.
Police are now beginning to piece together the movements of the gunman, revealing on Wednesday he stayed in most locations for a matter of only minutes.
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said officers would be investigating the possibility the alleged gunman, who was released from jail in January, could have been acting on a jail grudge.
Mr Kershaw told reporters he believed Hoffmann had been looking for just one individual, named Alex, and that Alex had been interstate, but previously lived at one of the addresses Hoffmann allegedly visited on Tuesday night.
'We've located [Alex] and we've spoken to him,' he said.
About 100 police officers have been tasked with piecing together the events of Tuesday night over eight crime scenes, and nine specialist ballistic and forensic experts from the NSW police force are being flown to Darwin to help process evidence.
Commissioner Kershaw said the firearm allegedly used in the mass shooting was outlawed in the Northern Territory, and may have have been stolen as far back as 1997.
Hoffmann had been out of prison for just five months when he allegedly stormed the Palms Motel in Darwin and shot into rooms. He is accused of visiting a further four locations around the city and shooting people there.
The first emergency call was placed about 5.45pm, and Hoffmann reportedly called police himself just an hour later.
The accused gunman, who allegedly has links to an outlaw bikie gang, was arrested shortly afterwards and taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital where he remains in police custody as officers investigate the motive for his alleged crime.
Commissioner Kershaw said Hoffmann, who had only been out of jail for a few months and was still being monitored with an electronic tracking bracelet, had asked to be placed into protective custody.
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Ben Hoffmann (pictured), 45, allegedly killed four people during a shooting rampage on Tuesday evening and injured one other
Witnesses have recounted the terrifying moments they came face to face with the accused shooter, who was reportedly dressed in hi-vis clothing and wielding a sawn-off shotgun.
Recycling worker Johnny Reid, who witnessed his friend being fatally shot, said he had been watching television in his unit at his work site when he heard a pounding at his door on Tuesday night.
Accused gunman Ben Hoffmann allegedly began shooting at the Palms Motel in Darwin between 5:39pm and 5:52pm on Tuesday.
He allegedly shot into multiple rooms, killing one man, before fleeing in a Toyota ute.
Hoffmann allegedly visited three other locations over the next hour: Gardens Hill Crescent 5:54pm and 5:57pm, the Buff Club at 5:59pm, and a home on Jolly Street in Woolner between 6:05pm and 6:13pm.
Three more men were killed, one at each location, and a woman was also injured at Gardens Hill Crescent.
Hoffmann allegedly tried to enter the Peter McAulay centre to hand himself in between 6.22 and 6.25pm, before calling a duty Superintendent about and revealing his location.
He was arrested on the corner of McMinn and Daly Street at 6.44pm
The man, who was released on parole in January, had been wearing an electric monitoring bracelet at the time.
Moments later, a man busted into his home on Jolly Road in Woolner and looked straight at him.
'I looked at him and thought: "F**k this is it",' Mr Reid told The NT News.
'I thought I was dead for sure.'
But Hoffmann allegedly turned past him and shot his friend four times instead.
'I asked him what he was doing but he went right past me and shot my mate,' Mr Reid said.
'His body is still in there.'
Darwin Recycling manager Peter Boden, who lives close to Mr Reid, told the paper he saw the alleged gunman enter the unit, but didn't realise something was amiss until he heard the shots.
He raced to help, calling the police and breaking down doors until he found Mr Reid's home, but by then it was too late.
'I went in and found the body,' he said.
'I nearly tripped over the bloody thing.'
Local Leah Potter told https://twitter.com/TheTodayShow/status/1136023063999369216 the events were 'absolutely crazy' for an 'innocent little town' known best for its crocodile stories.
She was in the car park at her motel, which is next door to the Palms Motel, when she heard the gunshots. Moments later, a man came up to her, holding a woman suffering gunshots on her legs.
Later that night, she saw Hoffmann apprehended by police with a taser.
'While that was going down, we saw one of the cops commandeered a bicycle from a random,' she said. 'He jumped on this bike and started riding towards us, so we followed him.
'The scene that we came across, I could not even believe that this could happen in Darwin.
'[The gunman] had come through the Palms Motel and shot every window, calling this man's name.
'He finally got to the room the man he was looking for was in, and shot him dead,' she alleged.
Hoffmann allegedly fatally shot four men at four different locations (pictured) and injured one woman
Johnny Reid said he had been watching television in his work site unit at Woolner (pictured) when he came face to face with the alleged gunman, who allegedly then turned and shot his friend four times
Maxime Campart, 31, told news.com.au he was paying for a drink inside the bottle shop opposite the Palms Motel when he heard the first two shots.
The French chef said he thought the gunshots were fireworks and he left the shop before hearing two more shots. He then heard a lady scream: 'Someone is shooting, get behind the bar.'
He and five others ducked for cover. One man opened the exit door while Mr Campart grabbed his scooter helmet for protection.
The father-of-one said he watched as the 'very tall' accused shooter walked past the store, dressed in a white T-shirt.
He said while he was hiding, he was still confused as to what was happening, but was left devastated when he discovered the sounds he'd initially believed were fireworks had been gunshots, fatally fired at people.
'The shots I’d heard weren’t just fired into the air...they were into flesh and blood,' he said.
'Now I realise what I was hearing was people being shot dead.'
