Man Hospitalized for Mental Health Hours Earlier Sh0t by Police After Armed Confrontation, Innocent Woman Hit by Stray Bullet
An armed man shot by police in Far North Queensland had been taken to hospital for mental health treatment but was released shortly before the shooting.
Richard Allen Tom, 28, was shot by police after they responded to reports a man had broken into two homes and was armed with knives on Benjamina St in Mount Sheridan, a suburb of Cairns, on Saturday afternoon.
An innocent bystander — a woman aged in her 50s — was struck by a stray police bullet during the altercation.
Police said they tried to engage Tom before attempting to hit him with a police car.
Officers eventually fired upwards of a dozen shots at him at a busy intersection before he was hit in the elbow and the leg and taken to Cairns Hospital in a serious condition.
The woman was standing at her front door when police opened fire and was hit in the lower leg. She was also rushed to hospital for the non-life-threatening injury.
Far Northern region assistant commissioner Graeme Paine said police had put the safety of the community first.
“The officers have felt the level of that threat required them to discharge their firearms,” he said.
Paine said police had received multiple triple-0 calls which he said “indicated that there were significant concerns within the community”.
It has now been revealed that Tom was released from prison only hours before being taken to Cairns Hospital for mental health treatment after being found naked and jumping on cars.
However, he was discharged shortly before the altercation that led to him being shot.
“Frankly, this person should have been in a mental health facility to start with, and they shouldn’t have been out in the community,” Queensland Police Union representative Shane Prior said.
Tom has since been charged with multiple offences, including wilful damage and one count each of enter dwelling and commit.
He was refused bail and is due to appear in the Cairns Magistrates Court on Monday.
The circumstances of the incident are being investigated by the Ethical Standards Command, with oversight from the Crime and Corruption Commission, Paine said.
He would not confirm if any officers had been stood down over the incident.
“We have a look at things holistically and then we make decisions as we progress with the evidence,” he said.
