Two police officers shoot man dead outside club after taser fails

An armed and “aggressive” man has been shot dead by two police officers outside the Greek Club in South Brisbane after they tried to subdue him with a taser.

The man died at the scene in Edmondstone Street, near Brisbane State High School, and police shut off the street and declared a crime scene.

Detective Superintendent Andrew Massingham said police had been called earlier to Fish Lane, where a man had been in a roof cavity, believed to be within a public bathroom.

The man left Fish Lane as police arrived, but not before falling through the roof and allegedly trying to assault people in nearby businesses.

Massingham said that about 3.05pm, a man – possibly the same one who was in Fish Lane – was seen walking along Edmondstone Street outside the Greek Club.

He said a second call had been made to police, with reports that the man was “acting irrational and attempting to pull his pants down”.

The man’s body was outside the Greek Club in South Brisbane. Credit: Brisbane Times

“The person who observed this believed [the man] may have been suffering some form of intoxication, but whether he was drug affected or intoxicated is too early to tell,” Massingham said.

When a police van pulled up beside him, he tried to enter the back door of the vehicle.

“At that time, he was confronted by the male officer, who had alighted from the driver’s side of the police van,” Massingham said.

“The male person then rushed at that officer in an aggressive manner.”

Police closed off the street after the shooting outside the Greek Club, where signs are advertising a Greek festival within days.Credit: Brisbane Times

The man, in his 30s and yet to be identified, approached “police with a 30-centimetre rod with a handle attached”.

“The officers attempted to subdue him using a taser. That taser was ineffective and fell to the ground, where it still remains on the footpath,” Massingham said, adding that investigators were yet to determine what caused the taser to fail.

Massingham said two officers, a female senior constable and a male constable, fired their weapons, and it was believed the man was shot about three times.

He said officers immediately started CPR on the man.

A crime scene has been declared on Edmondstone Street. Credit: Nine

“I am constrained in being able to answer questions ... as this male is now deceased. This matter is now a coronial matter,” he said.

The incident is under investigation by the Ethical Standards Command on behalf of the State Coroner.