Alleged knifeman shot by police at Lilydale Marketplace in Melbourne’s east
A man wielding a knife made a shocking demand of police officers during negotiations before he rushed them and was shot at a suburban shopping centre.
A man shot by police at a Melbourne shopping centre allegedly told police to “kill him” during about 20 minute negotiations before he rushed at officers.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Neil Paterson said the man was armed with a knife that he seemed to have bought and unwrapped in the shopping centre toilets before the incident began about 8.30am on Tuesday.
Dep Comm Paterson said the man had gone into the Lilydale Medical Centre and wandered around the car park while armed with the knife before the shooting.
The moment police opened fire was captured on live radio after a woman at the scene called 3AW while the scene was unfolding.
The 24-year-old male allegedly yelled at police a number of times to “kill him” in the lead-up to shots being fired.
“Police were stating to him, ‘No, we’re not going to kill you’, ‘No, we’re not going to shoot you’,” Dep Comm Paterson said.
“I does appear that he may have had some mental health issues.
“He (was) quite agitated, and police on arrival have tried to calm him down and negotiate with him to drop that knife, and that hasn’t occurred after quite a lengthy negotiation.”
One of the officers was only a few weeks out from graduating.
Dep Comm Paterson said the horrifying day would stay with all of the officers for the rest of their lives.
“They made a number of requests for him to drop that weapon and to stay away from police — to back off from police,” he said.
“The man did not back off from police after quite a period of negotiation and then rushed the police members, where I can say that a number of shots were fired by two separate police members.”
The man was transported to hospital where he continues to receive treatment for “not life-threatening” injuries.
Police were wearing body cameras but Dep Comm Paterson said he had not had an opportunity to view the footage.
EARLIER
A man allegedly armed with a “six-inch knife” has been shot by police at a shopping centre in Melbourne’s outer east.
Police were called to Lilydale Marketplace in Hutchinson St about 8.30am on Tuesday after reports of a man armed with a weapon.
“Officers attempted to speak with the man who refused to drop his weapon,” Sergeant Megan Stefanec said.
“A police firearm was discharged and the man received an injury to the upper body.”
A woman called 3AW radio just after 9am on Tuesday morning before multiple gunshots were heard ringing out over the call.
Caller Pauline said three police officers had their guns drawn outside Lilydale Marketplace and were yelling at the man to put the knife down.
She said police also had pepper spray drawn.
She said the man was wandering around the street allegedly holding a knife but did not appear to be waving it.
She said he refused to put the weapon down and after about five minutes two or three shots could be heard coming from the carpark of the shopping centre near the Caltex service station.
“Oh s**t they’re shooting,” a distressed Pauline said just seconds after gunshots could be heard in the background of her call.
“They’ve just shot. I can’t see if they’ve shot him … there’s just been three or four rounds … a lot of police are scurrying around now, not in any particular formation.”
Pauline said an ambulance had moved in and officers had started to set up police tape when the call finished.
One local business owner, who did not want to be named, said the man looked calm as he interacted with police.
“There was a guy near the chemist and the medical centre with a knife, he seemed calm, lighting up cigarette after cigarette,” he told NCA Newswire.
The witness said the knife looked about six inches long.
He said it went on for about 15 to 20 minutes before the man walked over past the service station towards the high school.
“He was holding the knife up, it looked like he was waving it around, whether or not he was pointing it at himself, I’m not sure,” he said.
“The cops kept backing up, saying put the knife down, put the knife down.
“He started walking back towards the marketplace. At that point you could hear the police voices really getting raised, he went behind the service station and we couldn’t see him, but at that point we heard what sounded like three pops.
“That’s when the ambulance came in.
“He seemed quite calm, just had the knife the whole time and police were keeping their distance, it didn’t look like he was lunging at them in any way but in that last moment of 15 to 20 seconds I’m not sure what happened, that’s when we lost visual.
“To me he didn’t show any aggression towards the police, what he was saying I don’t know.”
Local cafe worker Vishal Vishal said a customer alerted him to the shooting just outside the shopping centre.
He said he saw an ambulance drive the man over to the school oval across the road where he was loaded into a helicopter and flown to hospital.
“There were three helicopters circling and heaps of police,” he said.
Ambulance Victoria said paramedics were called to the scene about 8.45am.
“A man, believed to be in a serious condition, is being treated for upper body injuries,” a spokesman said.
The man was shot about 9.10am and was flown to hospital just after 10.15am where he is being treated for life threatening injuries.
Police remain on scene with Hutchinson St expected to be blocked to traffic until about 5pm.
Forensics officers spent hours probing the scene taking photos and looking for evidence.
The western end of the Lilydale Marketplace car park outside Chemist Warehouse, the medical centre and the Caltex service station remained cordoned off by police tape on Tuesday afternoon.
Armed Crime Squad detectives are investigating the shooting with oversight from Professional Standards Command, which is standard protocol when a police firearm is discharged.
Anyone who witnessed the incident has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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