At about 8:20pm on Friday 3 February 1978, two masked men, one armed with a .22 calibre pistol, committed an armed robbery on the Target Supermarket in Reservoir. Detective Bannan, who was off-duty in the store at the time. heard screams over the store's public address system. He made his way into the office where the robbery was taking place. As he reached the doorway, one of the robber's thrust a pistol into his side and ordered him into a nearby room, threatening to kill him if he resisted. 

Bannan was ordered to face the wall, but several times he turned his head to try and get a look at the robbers. Each time he did this he was told to face the wall or he would be shot.

As the offenders were making their getaway, Bannan produced his service revolver, identified himself as a police officer. and called on them to surrender. One of the men then fired two shots at him. 

A running gun battle took place, as Bannan pursued them from the store. As they were leaving, a Police Reservist named Ray Mulder, who was also in the store off-duty, tackled an armed offender. The man shook him off and Mulder fell to the ground. As he got up, the second offender ran past, and Mulder kicked a bag out of his hand, which contained all the money they had just stolen.

Bannan chased both men and eventually took hold of one of the offenders, who called on his accomplice to kill the detective. The man aimed his gun an Bannan from a distance of two metres, while Bannan used the man's accomplice as a human shield. 

Mulder then ran up and the armed offender ran off, pursued by Bannan, while Mulder subdued the remaining offender. The second offender was arrested in the same area some time later.

This is the story of the event that resulted in Brendan Bannon being awarded the George Medal. 

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