Mental health crisis at heart of fatal police shootings in Queensland
Queensland Police are being put in the invidious position of having no alternative under operational procedures but to use firearms to meet threats – and all too often those victims are those experiencing an acute mental health crisis.
Cairns
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The death of two North Queensland men has put the spotlight on the connection between fatal police shootings and victims suffering an acute mental health crisis at the time of their death, with more shootings in this state than the rest of the country combined.
Aubrey Donahue, 27, was shot in the face when officers from the Special Emergency Response Team stormed a residence after a four-hour siege on March 25.
Police said in a statement they went to the home following reports a man had threatened self-harm.
As the siege unfolded, Aubrey’s mother Desley Ketchup said “the only person Aubrey is a risk to is himself”.
Luke Gilbert, 24, brushed the shoulder of Senior Constable David Murray – whether it was deliberate contact or not is a matter the coroner may decide – as he walked past two officers at 12.19am on the nightclub strip at Airlie Beach on October 1, 2022.
On CCTV footage, Luke continues walking away out of the frame and an inquest held in Cairns this week heard evidence he said to Constable Murray “excuse me” and Constable Murray responded “no worries, mate”.
But Constable Murray’s partner, Constable Liam Forster, called Luke out on his behaviour and Luke turned back toward the officers, and when Constable Forster asked him what he had under his jumper, Luke produced a knife and said to police “shoot me, f****** faggots, shoot me”.
He died from three gunshot wounds to the chest.
The inquest heard Luke had a history of suicide attempts and self-harm and that he had presented at Townsville University Hospital just over a week before his death, saying he was suicidal and homicidal and would “stab someone or himself” if he didn’t get help, the inquest heard.
Luke was given a valium tablet by a doctor who did not make notes, and after waiting four hours to see a senior medical officer, he told hospital staff he was going outside, and walked off into the night.
Dr Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor of Criminology at Bond University, said State Coroner Terry Ryan could revisit the 2017 coronial inquest into police shootings and recommendations made, and that there needed to be an emphasis on de-escalation training.
Recommendations from Mr Ryan’s inquest into five shootings centred around revitalising the Mental Health Intervention Project (MHIP) between the QPS, Queensland Health and Queensland Ambulance.
Prof Goldsworthy said police shootings had increased nationally since 1989.
The latest Australian Institute of Criminology Report showed there had been a 78 per cent increase in fatal police shootings between 2018-19 and 2019-20.
An earlier report found 85 per cent of those shot had been armed with a deadly weapon.
“The welfare of the community should always take precedence, however, we need to ensure police do not move to an enforcement-only mentality to achieve this,” Prof Goldsworthy said.
“We want our police to be safe and enforce the law, but we also want them to keep us safe.”
He said a 10-year study showed 61 per cent of shootings involved mental illness and substance abuse was a factor in 49 per cent.
“The question is de-escalation, are we seeing enough training for de-escalation, it was an issue (former Qld police commissioner) Ian Stewart raised.
“I think with the number of shootings in recent times, I suspect the coroner may go back and look at that again.”
He said he thought recommendations had been implemented.
“I think they did some of that stuff, I thought they had mental health experts embedded in their comms centre to give them live time advice,” Prof Goldsworthy said.
“If police are called to a report of self-harming and it results in a police shooting, it does seem an ironic outcome.
“The focus needs to be on de-escalation, rather than getting in their face, just contain and stand back, as long as they are not harming anyone else, time is your friend and you have time to get a mental health professional engaged,” he said.
An academic expert who gave evidence at the Luke Gilbert inquest said 68 per cent of those who had an interaction with police in Australia had a mental health condition and 64 of 164 fatal police shootings to 2020 were ‘victim precipitated homicide’ – suicide by cop.
RECENT FATAL QUEENSLAND POLICE SHOOTINGS
August 5, 2023 – A 29-year-old man was fatally shot at Burpengary East in Brisbane. Police allege the man threatened them before they fired.
May 21, 2023 – Christopher Williams, 29, was shot dead at Grange, in Brisbane’s North. Police allege the armed man was shot after he advanced on officers who attended following reports of the man attempting to stab another man.
21 April, 2023 – Steven Angus, 52, was shot dead at Kirwan in Townsville. Police said in a statement they attended the home following reports a man had threatened self-harm and the man was shot by police after advancing at them. He had been released from hospital hours earlier.
March 25, 2023 – Aubrey Donohue, 27, shot dead at Mareeba. Police said in a statement they attended the home following reports a man had threatened self-harm and the man allegedly had a woman with him and refused to let her leave.
November 21, 2022 – A 24-year-old man was shot dead by police in West Mackay. Police said in a statement they went to the home following reports a man had threatened self-harm and he was allegedly armed with a firearm and advanced at officers.
October 11, 2022 – A man in his 30s was shot dead at South Brisbane. Police said in a statement the man allegedly attempted to open the rear doors of the police van and rushed at an officer with a metal rod.
October 1, 2022 – Luke Gilbert, 24, is shot three times in the chest by two police officers at Airlie Beach after allegedly advancing on them with a knife.
May 15, 2022 – A 27-year-old man was shot at Ipswich. Police said in a statement they attended following reports of a man armed with a firearm in a street, they attempted to negotiate with the man and the man allegedly threatened them.
Feb 25, 2022 – A man was shot dead at a Marsden shopping centre after police attended following reports he had threatened a number of people at businesses with a knife, and he threatened police with the knife, police said in a statement.
More Coverage
Originally published as Mental health crisis at heart of fatal police shootings in Queensland
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