Bravery of the police officers at Senior shooting cannot be overstate | Elizabeth Henson

How much would you expect to put your life on the line? A million? More? Police do it for far less – and every day, writes Elizabeth Henson.

If someone, right now, said to you “there’s a man with a gun at a property just down the road. He shot a dog. Can you duck down there and have a chat with him please?”

Would you do it? For most of us, the task would raise some very loud alarm bells, and the answer would be an emphatic “no way”.

For police officers, this type of job is part of their daily routine.

But imagine if that daily routine suddenly turned deadly, seemingly without warning.

These are the allegations surrounding the tragedy that unfolded in a small South Australian town that a lot of us had never heard of before Friday morning.

Local police officers Brevet Sergeant Jason Doig, Sergeant Michael Hutchinson and Constable Rebekah Cass attended a property in Senior, north of Bordertown, on Thursday night to speak to a young man after an alleged dog shooting.

As far as police jobs go, nothing about the task seemed out of the ordinary. Or particularly dangerous. And seemingly nothing gave the officers any reason to believe they were about to walk into a terrifying and chaotic shootout that Brevet Sergeant Doig would not survive.

Upon arrival at the isolated property, the trio was allegedly confronted by a 26-year-old man who unexpectedly opened fire. Brevet Sergeant Doig, 53, was gunned down while Sergeant Hutchinson, 59, also took a bullet, suffering non-life-threatening injuries. Meanwhile, the gunman was shot by police and is in a critical condition.

A South Australian police officer has died and another has been flown to hospital following a shooting at Senior, near Bordertown Picture: 7NEWS

Constable Cass, 31, was not physically injured, and she and Sergeant Hutchinson immediately rendered assistance to both their fallen colleague and the man who shot him. The wait for back-up, and ambulances, to arrive must have felt excruciatingly long.

Flowers at the Bordertown Police Station. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dean Martin

The bravery and courage of all three officers under these extreme circumstances cannot be overstated.

This horrifying incident is a reminder that we should not take police for granted.

No one should ever be killed while doing their job. But this is exactly what officers – who are real people with family and friends – risk when they put on their uniform in order to keep communities safe.

And not only do they understand and accept that they can be confronted by unpredictable situations, they are also expected to rush towards known dangers.

How much would you expect to be paid to put your life on the line? A million dollars? Maybe a few million?

Police officers do it for a lot less. A constable could die on the job while earning between $75,000 and $87,000 a year. A senior constable pulls in between about $89,000 and $103,000 annually. A sergeant banks between $108,000 and almost $119,000.

Police deserve our respect – because imagine if no one came to help when you called triple-0.