Stanley Turvey inquest: Gunman’s 48-hour manhunt probed after police shooting

Shortly before police moved in to arrest an armed fugitive, he told a family friend, “This only ends one way.”

The final moments of a wanted gunman have been aired in a Melbourne court as a coroner found the shooting “complied with all legislative and policy requirements”.

Stanley Turvey, 33, was shot dead by police on September 20, 2023, after three days on the run across Victoria and NSW.

His death was the focus of a coronial probe by State Coroner John Cain, who was required to assess the police response and use of lethal force.

Stanley Turvey’s family believes he fell into a depressive hole after the death of his grandmother. Picture: Supplied

On Tuesday, counsel assisting the inquest, Lindsay Spence, told the court more than 2000 pages of evidence had been prepared following an extensive investigation into the police shooting.

Judge Cain was told the father of four had been in and out of prison for much of his adult life and suffered from significant mental health issues since childhood.

He was last released from custody in November 2022, spending several months living with his sister on the NSW north coast before returning home to the Shepparton region in Victoria.

In July, Mr Turvey came to the attention of Victoria Police’s intelligence unit after sharing a video on social media allegedly appearing to fire a handgun out of a car window with the comment “going to war with police”.

He was shot dead at a Ardmona home. Picture: Nine News

Over the following months police made several efforts to locate Mr Turvey to execute a firearm prohibition order warrant but failed to find where he was staying.

After sharing another video of him allegedly firing a sawn-off shotgun in September, police located Mr Turvey at a Katandra West property shortly before midday on September 18.

For about an hour Mr Turvey confronted police with the shotgun, threatening to shoot himself and saying “I’m not going back to jail” and firing a shot into the air.

He then fled the scene in a vehicle before crashing it into a fence in Youanmite where he forced a man to drive him across the NSW border to Finley.

Over the following two days, Mr Turvey had contact with people who would later describe his behaviour as erratic as he visited homes, demanded lifts and smoked methamphetamine.

The father of four spent much of his adult life in and out of jail. Picture: Supplied

At 945am on September 19, he stole a white utility vehicle after confronting three men at a construction site in Yarrawonga, planning to return to Victoria.

“I need a car boys or someone needs to give me a lift,” he said.

“I don’t want anyone to get hut but don’t f--k me around.”

Later the same day, Mr Turvey visited the homes of several associates in Shepparton asking to stay there but was denied as most had seen media reports of the manhunt.

He was seen bleeding from a hole in his forehead the following morning as he attempted to visit the mother of an old friend, telling a neighbour to “Google me, you will find out who I am. Stanley Turvey, turn on the news … I don’t give a f--k about nothing”.

By 9am on September 20, Mr Turvey was at a long-term family friend Lucy Ciccone’s Ardmona home, where he would be shot dead.

The court was told Ms Ciccone repeatedly begged Mr Turvey to hand himself in and believed she had convinced him.

“You know how this is going to end, this only ends one way,” he told her.

While at the home, Mr Turvey placed a series of calls to his father, Stanley Sr, and brother, Stuart.

“I knew what was going to happen … he didn’t want to go to jail,” Stuart later told police.

“Either he was going to be arrested with some serious force or he was going to make the police shoot him — I have no doubt in my mind.”

A significant manhunt across Victoria and NSW was launched. Picture: Supplied

Seconds after the special operations group (SOG) made the decision to move in shortly after 10am, Mr Turvey left the home with the shotgun pointed at his temple.

The team leader, SOG operative 103, fired three shots as Mr Turvey moved the shotgun towards another operative and the homeowner.

“I believed that I felt I had no other tactical option,” SOG operative 103 said.

Paramedics moved in but Mr Turvey was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation later found the gun was unloaded and unable to be fired by pulling on the trigger.

Finding the shooting was justified and police did not have earlier opportunities to intervene, Judge Cain expressed his “deepest sympathies” to members of Mr Turvey’s family for the loss.

“I’m satisfied the overarching response was timely and reasonable and there were no missed opportunities to locate and apprehend Stanley at an early stage,” he said.

Judge Cain expressed disappointment there was no body-worn camera footage from the scene, but noted Victoria Police were in the process of exploring new technology that could be fitted to tactical helmets.

He found there was an “organisational miscommunication or misunderstanding” between Victoria Police and Motorola that led to radio transmissions between police at the scene not being recorded.

Judge John Cain found the shooting was justified. Picture: Supplied.

But he was satisfied the issue had been rectified by March 2024 and did not require further investigation.

In two statements, members of Mr Turvey’s family said they felt the beloved son, brother and father had been let down by the system.

The wrote that after his release from prison in 2022, he had been optimistic about the future but fell into a depressive state after not being able to access psychiatric care.

“For some you only see the wrong my brother did. You don’t see the wrongs that led him to his choices and the system that took my brother’s life,” they wrote.

“I know Stanley was and would have been deeply remorseful for the people he hurt both physically and mentally over the years and during those last frantic few days.”