Central station shooting: Man killed suffered ‘paranoid delusions’
THE man who was shot dead by police outside Sydney’s Central station was once a churchgoer who became convinced family had turned on him.
WARNING: Graphic content
THE man who attacked a Sydney florist outside Central station on Wednesday night was once a regular churchgoer who described himself as “nice and friendly”.
Danukul Mokmool, 30, began attending a church popular with reformed criminals when he was released from prison in 2014.
Tony Hoang, who ran the church, told Fairfax that Mokmool had instances of having “structure” in his life during and at times was “doing well” — despite being plagued by delusions of “supernatural” things.
On his own Facebook page, Mokmool described himself as a peaceful man.
“I am nice and friendly. My looks might confuse you, but my heart is pure,” a line from his Facebook profile said.
His half-brother said Mookmol was suffering paranoid delusions before he left their western Sydney home on Wednesday, reported the Daily Telegraph.
Sibling Charlie Huynh, 19, said Mr Mokmool had battled ice addiction and the law for many years.
Four hours before his death Mr Mokmool left his home in Green Valley, fearing his family wanted to harm him.
“I’m pretty sure it’s the things he’s been taking, I’m not sure what he’s been taking,” Mr Huyhn told the Telegraph.
“Around the corner there’s a metal pole that my dad uses for gardening ... He thought I was going to hit him with it. He was like ‘why do you have this here do you ... Want to kill me or something?’”
He said his brother usually caught public transport to when he feels distressed or cycles the streets at night.
Florist Emmanuel Theoharis said the attacker was armed with up to four pairs of scissors and a broken bottle.
Police were undertaking a critical incident investigation following the attack at the Eddy Avenue Florist, outside Sydney’s busy Central station, on Wednesday evening.
Mr Theoharis, who has run the flower shop for 46 years, was sporting a 5cm-long cut on his neck as he got back to work on Thursday morning.
He told news.com.au he initially thought the harrowing attack was a joke.
“I was in my shop at 6.20pm, it was busy and he put his arm around my neck and said ‘don’t move, call the police’ and I thought it was a friend until I saw there was a broken bottle on my neck,” Mr Theoharis said.
“He was yelling and he pushed the bottle and now I have a few cuts here.”
Mr Theoharis said the man also had four pairs of scissors.
“He had two in his belt and he was holding two,” he said.
“The police came and told him to put them down and he wouldn’t,” the florist told news.com.au.
“He could have attacked the police or anybody. Police had to shoot him.
“When I came back I saw him lying on the floor.”
Officers were called to the area just before 6.45pm after reports of an armed robbery at a florist near the station entrance.
“A man of Asian appearance has died following that confrontation with police,” NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Walton said.
“That investigation will be subject to independent review.”
It’s unclear if anyone else was injured. The incident is not believed to be terrorism related.
Graphic video posted on social media filmed by an eyewitness shows two police officers with their guns drawn and aimed at a man inside a florist before someone yells “down”.
The man appears to run from the florist towards police before four shots are fired at him.
“F***, f***,” an onlooker can be heard screaming.
The man can then be seen lying lifeless on the ground as police come to his aid.
“Everybody move away,” someone can be heard saying before the video ends.
NSW police said “a man has been shot following a confrontation with police and has died at the scene.”
“A critical incident team from the Homicide Squad will now investigate all circumstances surrounding the incident.
“That investigation will be subject to independent review and all information will be provided to the Coroner.”
Witnesses Nathan Yin was standing near the Eddy Avenue entrance to Central Station waiting for a friend when he saw an Asian man, who appeared to be in his 30s, approach the florist and start “breaking everything”.
“A man came from nowhere. He tried to grab an old man, the florist owner, and he was pulling him and yelling at him. I said, ‘What the f*** do you want?’ and he said, ‘I just want to die’,” Mr Yin told news.com.au.
“I took off my bag and yelled at him, I tried to get him to stop.”
Mr Yin said he called police, who arrived within five minutes. That’s when he says the situation escalated.
“The man, I think he was holding scissors and trying to grab police and the police have shot him. Three or four gun shots.
“I was right there and I tried to escape the gunfire. I saw him go down. I think he got hit all over the body and he went down straight away.”
SBS reporter Andrea Booth at the scene said witnesses described the man saying “shoot me” to police and holding scissors in his hand. Video shows police attempting to treat the victim.
Witness says man had what looked like separated scissors in his hands in flower stall & said "shoot me". I heard police shoot three times. pic.twitter.com/ELR0QHRdJk
— Andrea Booth (@AndreasBooth) July 26, 2017
#BREAKING: Just before 7pm, police reportedly shot a man outside a flower shop at Sydney's Central Railway Station. #9ACA pic.twitter.com/6PmcZAqNm3
— A Current Affair (@ACurrentAffair9) July 26, 2017
Another witness, Serena Whelan, said she heard three loud bangs from the park across the road around 6.20pm.
CJs Central shop owner Sami Aryal also witnessed the incident.
“I was just about to go to the toilet, and I saw three to four police officers holding a gun. They were saying something to the man like ‘put your hands down’,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“And then after 20 seconds, the man came out of the flower shop and he was shot about three times.”
A worker at a nearby store described hearing screams before the shots.
“I heard screaming. I heard ‘put it down, put it down’. and then there were three or four gunshots,” he said.
The area has been cordoned off and emergency services remain on scene.
Police are urging anyone with information in relation to this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page.
If you or anyone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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