Senior Constable Norm Watt remembered 20 years after dying in line of duty
Twenty years ago Senior Constable Norman Watt and his canine partner attended a domestic dispute near Rockhampton. He never made it home.
Twenty years ago, a seven-hour siege at a hobby farm near Rockhampton claimed the life of a Queensland police officer.
At 9.22pm on Thursday, July 20, 2000, Senior Constable Norman James Watt, 33, was among officers called to Alton Downs after reports of a serious domestic dispute where a man had fired three shots at a friend.
Sen-Constable Watt, who was a member of the Rockhampton Dog Squad, attended the scene with his dog Zeus, and officers cordoned off the residence.
Shortly after midnight, a shot was fired and Sen-Constable Watt fell to the ground.
An armoured vehicle was summoned to recover his body. He was pronounced dead at 3.47am on Friday, July 21 after sustaining a bullet wound to the leg.
After a seven-hour siege, former air force officer Royce William Cooper was charged with murder and later found guilty.
On Tuesday, the 20th anniversary of Sen-Constable Watt’s death, a memorial service will be held in Cairns.
A Queensland Police Services spokesperson said members of the Cairns Dog Squad and their canine partners would be in attendance.
Sen-Constable Watt’s mother Rosalie Watt said she and her late husband had been so proud of the work Norm did while serving in the force.
“I remember how much it mattered to them that they lost one of their own on duty, you know they are struggling with it too,” she said of Norm’s colleagues.
“At Norman’s funeral, I just couldn’t get over how badly each one of the policemen felt.”
Norm was born in Chinchilla and joined the police academy straight after school before he moved to Rockhampton.
He served with distinction with both district branch and the dog squad.
In March, QPS commissioned and named one of two new police vessels after Sen-Constable. Watt.
QPV Norm Watt is a 17m monohull patrol and enforcement vessel operating out of Mooloolaba.
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