HOR-ROR IN CAIRNS: Woman Sh-0-t as Police Open Fire on Armed Man Outside Family Home
A woman is recovering in hospital after being hit by a police bullet as she stood at her front door in Far North Queensland.
Queensland police shot two people on Saturday afternoon, after responding to reports a man had broken into two home and was armed with knives on Benjamina St in Mount Sheridan, a suburb of Cairns.
Police said they had attempted to engage the armed 28-year-old man before attempting to hit him with a police car.
Officers eventually fired at the man multiple times before he was hit and taken to Cairns Hospital.
The woman, an innocent bystander, was at her front door when a stray police bullet hit her lower leg. She was also rushed to hospital for treatment for her non-life threatening injuries.
“It’s an extremely dangerous situation,” officer Graeme Paine said.
“The officers have felt the level of that threat required them to discharge their firearms.”
Paine said police had recieved multiple triple-zero calls which he said “indicated that there were significant concerns within the community”.
The circumstances of the incident are being investigated by the Ethical Standards Command, with oversight from the Crime and Corruption Commission, Paine said.
“It’s a very challenging and distressing situation for (the woman’s) family,” he said.
Paine said police expect the man to be charged at a later date and would not confirm 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.
The incident came less than 24 hours after a police officer was shot and the alleged offender found dead on the Fraser Coast in Queensland.
