Kasey King charged over shooting at Abode Hotel in Belconnen

Kasey Tyson King, 21, was on Friday charged over the August 18 incident with recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm, unlawfully discharging a firearm, and threatening to kill.

The McKellar man has already been behind bars on remand for weeks, having been arrested in Queanbeyan the day after the shooting over his alleged involvement in a cross-border police pursuit and other offences.

When Mr King appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court over the phone on Friday morning, defence lawyer Lauren Skinner entered pleas of not guilty to all charges.

In addition to the three new allegations, the 21-year-old was already facing 12 other charges.

These included four counts of failing to stop for police and one of contravening the ACT's lockdown restrictions.

Minutes prior to Mr King's court appearance, Detective Superintendent Scott Moller told media that ACT Policing believed the unemployed defendant shot the 56-year-old victim with a rifle while trying to steal a car.

The victim, Peter Hill, was not known to the alleged gunman and was with his companion dog, heading for his carer's vehicle, at the time in question.

"At this stage, it appears that it was a robbery," Detective Superintendent Moller said.

The senior officer said the victim had suffered a single gunshot wound to the left leg, and had recently been discharged from hospital following two "significant" surgeries.

He indicated that investigators had identified Mr King as a suspect "very quickly after the shooting", which took place in an underground car park at the Abode Hotel about 9.30am on the day in question.

"Shortly after the incident occurred in Belconnen, the man was followed into NSW," Detective Superintendent Moller said.

"In NSW, he used his vehicle to ram the police. He was arrested in NSW and charged with numerous driving offences."

The officer told media the significant police response, including the presence of heavily armed tactical personnel at the hotel, indicated how serious the incident was.

He said police had not yet been able to find the gun used in the shooting, but his officers remained hopeful of tracking it down.

"Anyone that's using a firearm and shooting at people, whether it's broad daylight or night time, it doesn't matter. It's concerning, really concerning," he said.

"That's why I think you can see the police have got this as their highest priority.

"Basically, from a policing perspective, we drop everything to try to ensure the public's safety."

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Detective Superintendent Moller added that the investigation had been complex, saying every probe that required police to find a person somewhere other than the scene of the incident was hard.

"The message that I guess I want to get out there is that police didn't hold any concerns for public safety once the man was arrested," he said.

"Up until that time, we were doing everything we could to arrest him and get him before the courts.

"But once he was arrested in NSW, it gave us an opportunity to put our efforts into preparing the brief of evidence for court."

Mr King did not apply for bail during his brief appearance on Friday, so Magistrate James Lawton continued his existing remand in custody.

His case is due back in court on October 22.

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