Byrne was probably at the Kelly house on 15 April, 1878, when Constable Fitzpatrick said that Ned Kelly shot him and that Ellen Kelly, Ned's mother, had hit him over the head with a shovel. Ned and Dan Kelly went into hiding in the bush at Bullock Creek, an old gold mining area. The police offered a reward of £100 for them, and Ellen Kelly was sent to gaol for three years.