Man shot dead; officer injured after knife incident in Launceston

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Professional standards investigators are looking into the shooting death of a man by police in Tasmania. Officers responded to reports of an armed man threatening members of the public in Launceston’s CBD.

Transcript

00:00A man has died after being shot by police in an armed incident here in the Launceston

00:06CBD this morning.

00:08At about 10am police responded to reports of an armed man threatening members of the

00:12public.

00:13Police say that officers tried to negotiate with the man who had a knife but he ignored

00:18repeated warnings to disarm.

00:20Two officers shot the man in the chest, so he was shot twice.

00:24He then received first aid at the scene and was taken to the Launceston General Hospital.

00:28However, he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

00:31A lethal force for a police officer is the very last option.

00:35This is not an outcome that we want to see.

00:38It's very tragic.

00:39But again, our people are very well trained to make decisions in situations that are dangerous

00:46not only to them but also to members of the public.

00:49An officer was also injured by a bullet.

00:52They received non-life threatening injuries and was also treated at the Launceston General

00:56Hospital.

00:58Police say there's no ongoing threat to the community and that a full professional standards

01:02investigation will take place as which happens any time a serious incident involving police

01:07takes place.

01:08They also say they're in the process of notifying the man's family.

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