Man shot by police at Cairns suburb of Kanimbla
Cairns Hospital has provided an update on man who was wounded in a police shooting at Kanimbla on Tuesday.
A man shot by police in a Cairns suburb is currently fighting for his life after deteriorating overnight in hospital.
The 59-year-man was shot twice in the shoulder by police during a “immediate confrontation” when the armed man allegedly “ran” at police in Kanimbla on Tuesday morning.
He was rushed to hospital in a critical condition after being wounded and was later confirmed to be in a stable condition on Tuesday afternoon.
A Cairns and Hinterland Hospital Health Service spokeswoman confirmed the man was now in a critical condition on Wednesday afternoon.
Initial investigations indicate around 10.30am, police responded to reports of a man being armed with a knife at the intersection of Elphinstone Street and Ramsey Drive in Kanimbla.
Police allege the man approached officers with a knife and in response one officer shot the man.
Medical assistance was immediately provided to the man by police.
Queensland Ambulance Service received a triple 0 call at 10.35am following reports a man had sustained a life threatening wound.
The man was taken to the Cairns Hospital in a critical condition.
Residents reported seeing the man walking from the direction of Redlynch without a shirt toward near the Edge Early Learning childcare centre.
Soon after several police units responded before two gunshots were heard.
Acting Superintendent Monique Ralph said the man was shot in the shoulder but confirmed no tasers were deployed.
“Upon arrival, police located the man before he threatened the officers with the knife, the man was then shot by police,” she said.
“It was an immediate confrontation and as soon as the shot was fired, the officers rendered first aid until the paramedics were able to attend and take that over from them.
“As you can imagine, this is a really difficult situation where they’ve got a split second to make a decision and that will form part of the investigation.”
Two officers from Cairns Police station responded to the incident which will now form part of an Ethical Standards Review by the Crime and Corruption Commission.
Queensland Police Union president Shane Prior said officers were called to help the man.
“While on route, police were advised that this male person had just injured himself significantly and were advised to attend urgently to help this male person,” he said.
“It will be alleged that this male person ran towards police with the edge weapon.
“Police were then required to use their firearm and shoot towards the male person striking him.”
The Cairns incident was the second police shooting in Queensland on Tuesday and followed a fatal police shooting at Caboolture.
Mr Prior said highlighted worrying trends of violence in the community.
“Today we have had two very serious incidents, one at the top of Queensland and one here at the bottom,” he said.
“On both occasions, police attending acted very bravely, and the Queensland community is safer because of their involvement today.”
Long-term Kanimbla resident Angie said her backyard was just metres away from the shooting.
She described hearing two “loud bangs” before seeing a shirtless man lying in the grass.
“I looked over the fence and the man was on the ground,” she said.
“I heard the sirens right after the shots … I had never heard anything like that before so I was sure it was gunshots.”
“We were scared because we didn’t know what happened … it was right outside my house.”
She said the neighbourhood was known to have issues with crime and had recently installed new cameras and security systems but had never experienced anything as extreme.
The man was transported to Cairns Hospital where he underwent surgery and is now in a stable condition.
Acting Superintendent Ms Ralph would not comment on why officers didn’t deploy their tasers, but said counselling was being offered.
“The officers would have had an opportunity to consider all uses of force options and they would have used the option that was considered the best in the circumstances,” she said.
“Our primary focus is to make sure that our people are safe and that they receive the support that they have and obviously the support that the man needs while he’s in hospital.”
A police spokeswoman said a crime scene has been declared, and Elphinstone Street and Ramsey Drive are closed.
Police stated investigations into the incident are ongoing but no charges have yet been laid.
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Originally published as Man shot by police at Cairns suburb of Kanimbla
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