17-year-old girl shot by police at Townsville pub in North Queensland

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A 17-year-old girl is recovering in a Townsville hospital in North Queensland after being shot by police officers. It's the second police shooting in the city this year and advocates are calling for more to be done to protect young people.

Transcript

00:00A suburban Townsville hotel turned into a crime scene.

00:07It was a very, very challenging situation for the officers to be put in.

00:10Three officers were called to reports of a girl making threats.

00:14They were confronted by a 17-year-old allegedly wielding a knife.

00:19There were use of force options presented and a single shot was discharged from one of the firearms.

00:25It's going to take a little while for this officer to get over what has happened.

00:28Police say they provided immediate medical assistance before she was taken to hospital with injuries to her abdomen.

00:35Police officers were presented with a set of circumstances which was life-threatening

00:39and they reverted to their training and if it wasn't for their quick reflexes

00:43that we could have been very easily talking about the death of a police officer.

00:47We provide every bit of support for those who are suffering mentally

00:52and we also have the strong laws in place to protect the community.

00:55Advocates say more needs to be done to prevent incidents like this.

00:59Police need as many tools as possible to deal with de-escalation rather than resorting to any kind of weapon.

01:06The hotel management thanked police and said no one should have to experience what occurred

01:11and we stand with the officers and our staff involved.

01:14This is the second police involved shooting in Townsville this year.

01:18Police have described the incident as sad for everyone involved.

01:21They say they're supporting the officers who attended the incident

01:24and have reached out to the family of the girl to offer help.

01:27What they had to deal with yesterday was extraordinarily harrowing.

01:31Investigations continue.

01:33Investigations continue.

01:36flexibility engaged

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