Inquest finds man shot by Qld police contributed to his own death

Findings into the death of Luke Gilbert, shot by police at Airlie Beach in 2022, have been handed down by Deputy State Coroner Stephanie Gallagher.

Gallagher found the evidence in the inquest had shown that, after a brief interaction with police patrolling the nightlife precinct, Gilbert produced a knife and did not comply with a direction to drop it.

The officers then shot him, with Gallagher finding they had “acted in accordance with the relevant (Queensland Police Service) policies and procedures then in force and that such actions were appropriate”.

Luke Gilbert was fatally shot by police in Airlie Beach in 2022.

After hearing evidence from medical experts and other witnesses that Gilbert was in a negative mental state at the time, and potentially suicidal, Gallagher accepted that Gilbert’s death met the technical definition of “victim-precipitated homicide” or VPH.

Gilbert had also been drinking, and one expert told the inquest the 24-year-old’s tattoos – including two swastikas – were “probably reflective of staunch oppositional defiance to authority”.

Gilbert’s girlfriend, Elizabeth Mellor, described him as a “caring, pretty quiet, very generous person”. She told the inquest Gilbert had a new job and business, had recently been baptised, and was “making a really solid effort to do better in his life”.

However, Gilbert had become agitated while they were out drinking on the night, and stormed out of a bar alone.

CCTV footage of Luke Gilbert earlier in the evening, showing a knife clipped to his boardshorts.

The inquest was told the altercation began when Gilbert bumped into one of the officers while walking past them on the footpath. The officer accepted Gilbert’s apology, before the other officer called him a “tough guy” and then asked what Gilbert was clutching under his jumper.

Gilbert then produced the knife, which he held out to his side. In the ensuing exchange, Gilbert repeatedly challenged the officers to shoot him, while they unsuccessfully ordered him to drop the knife.

As part of her role in determining whether any measures might prevent similar deaths in future, Gallagher recommended more research into victim-precipitated homicide.

Gallagher also acknowledged that police, since the incident, had been wanding people for knives, but said it was speculative to suggest earlier intervention might have seen Gilbert disarmed without incident.

Gallagher recommended the QPS mandate the location of the first aid kit in vehicles after the inquest heard the officers had struggled to find it after Gilbert was shot.

In her closing remarks, Gallagher acknowledged “the toll that Luke’s death has had on the police and first responders involved”, and extended her condolences to his family, Ms Mellor, and his friends.

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