Police say man they shot dead was armed with a knife and charged at them

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A man is dead, and a community is in mourning after two police officers shot a man in Melbourne's inner west overnight. Police say he was armed with a knife and had charged at the officers before they opened fire.

Transcript

00:00Members of the public confronted by a shocking scene.

00:05A 35 year old man shot dead by police lies lifeless in the middle of the road.

00:11I hear this bah bah and I came out and I said was that gunshots.

00:15It was pretty full on. My blood just started pumping.

00:19Police arrived at Albert Street in Footscray last night around 9 o'clock

00:24following triple zero reports of a man armed with a knife.

00:27Police drew their firearms and challenged the male to drop the knife.

00:30I'm told he didn't and charged that police armed with the knife.

00:34At that point I'm told both police members shot the man.

00:38Then there was a body on the ground and they were trying to resuscitate him

00:41and then we saw police helicopters and everything.

00:44The man was treated by paramedics but he died at the scene

00:48which erupted in violence soon after.

00:51There was a group of persons who challenged police

00:55in terms of abusing them and throwing bottles at police.

00:58A vigil for the 35 year old was held this evening community members

01:02gathering to mourn.

01:04A local councillor posted online saying he was saddened to learn

01:08of the tragic passing of a young African man.

01:11He said in recent months our community has faced a number of difficult moments

01:16with young lives lost too soon.

01:18Detectives are still investigating where the man might have obtained the knife

01:23and whether it could have been from one of many nearby shops.

01:26In terms of carrying and using knives I mean there's no winners with respect to that

01:32and it just leads to tragic outcomes and circumstances.

01:35Professional standards will investigate the incident as is a requirement in fatal police shootings.

01:41And

01:47when

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