Man dies in restaurant, police declare several crime scenes in Toowoomba

A young man has died at a Toowoomba restaurant following a confrontation, with police declaring multiple crime scenes in the city, an hour-and-a-half west of Brisbane.

Emergency services were called to El Attar Middle Eastern Grill on Bell Street just after 9.30pm on Wednesday, where Jack Norman Roberts had collapsed.

Roberts, 23, was involved in an altercation with a group of people at a nearby bus stop before seeking refuge at the restaurant.

He collapsed inside and could not be saved by paramedics who arrived shortly after.

Crime scenes were established at the multi-storey bus station and the restaurant, with police forensic teams working through the night.

The bus exchange reopened on Thursday.

Acting Detective Inspector Ryan Harmer said emergency services received several calls about the incident from the public, and police believed the incident occurred on multiple levels of the bus exchange.

No charges have been laid, and police must wait on the results of an autopsy to determine how Roberts died.

Harmer said it appeared he had not suffered any obvious injuries.

“The postmortem will obviously give us further clarification whether there is the presence of any injuries and that is expected to be done in the next couple of days,” he said.

Police have not reported finding any weapons at the scene and Harmer said they had not ruled out that Roberts had suffered a medical episode.

He said a group of people were assisting police and all parties involved were already known to the police.

“We’re still trying to determine the links between those two incidences and determine what conflict, if any, has occurred at the bus exchange,” he said.

Harmer said investigators were trawling through CCTV from the area.

Roberts’ sister Ruth said he was the father with a son, as well as a loved brother and uncle.

“He literally would have given the shirt off his back,” she said in a statement.

“He adored his son, he worked at Beef City [and] made a nice life for himself.

“He was literally the best person.”

In a post on social media, El Attar Middle Eastern Grill management confirmed the man died in their restaurant.

“Following an incident in the city last night, an unknown individual sought refuge at our restaurant. Our team assisted him and contacted emergency services,” they said in the post.

“We are very sad to share that the man passed away. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family and friends.”

Investigators asked anyone who was in the area or who had relevant footage to get in touch.

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