Police officer shot dead, two others injured in incident

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A South Australian police officer shot dead in an ambush on a rural property is being remembered as highly respected colleague and friend. Brevet sergeant Jason Doig was gunned down while responding to a call near the Victorian border. Another officer and the alleged gunman were also injured in the shoot-out. He's under police guard in hospital and is expected to be charged with murder.

Transcript

00:00 A devastating day for South Australia Police.

00:05 What should have been a routine call to this remote property has instead ended in tragedy.

00:10 It is with a great deal of sadness that I have to report that in the early hours of

00:15 this morning a South Australian Police officer was tragically killed in the line of duty.

00:21 Fifty-three year old Brevett Sergeant Jason Doig was the officer in charge of the Lucindale

00:25 Police Station.

00:26 He and two colleagues went to the senior property late last night after reports someone had

00:32 shot an animal.

00:33 When they went inside, the occupant opened fire.

00:36 No one is left untouched by this tragic incident.

00:39 There wouldn't be one single police officer today who is not thinking about the sacrifice

00:43 that Jason has made and the risk that is inherent in the role of policing.

00:49 Sergeant Michael Hutchinson was also shot.

00:51 He was flown to Adelaide with non-life threatening injuries.

00:54 A third officer, Constable Rebecca Cass, was uninjured.

00:58 They were ambushed and so that's all I'll say about that.

01:03 They obviously returned fire and injured the assailant.

01:10 The alleged gunman, 26 year old Jaden Stimpson, is in a critical condition in hospital.

01:15 His family has released a statement extending their condolences to the family of Brevett

01:19 Sergeant Doig.

01:21 It is a great tragedy that a good man at the age of 53 has lost his life in service of

01:28 our state in what would otherwise seem like a perfectly routine day in the job.

01:32 I will be travelling to the south east tomorrow to check in.

01:39 To check in.

01:40 At police stations across the region, flags are flying at half mast, which shock locals

01:45 laying floral tributes.

01:47 Sergeant Doig was well known and respected across the south east and also in Victoria

01:52 where his family is from.

01:54 Victoria's Chief Commissioner Shane Patton is visiting Sergeant Doig's mother and brother

01:58 and providing ongoing support.

02:00 The family has thanked the public for their condolences.

02:04 Jason was one of those police officers who cared very deeply for the work he did and

02:08 for the people he did it for.

02:10 So it's going to be, as I said, heartfelt for a long time.

02:13 This is the second serious police incident to occur in South Australia this year.

02:19 Six months ago an offender was shot dead and two officers stabbed at Crystal Brook.

02:24 A Commissioner's Inquiry will now be held to examine the exact circumstances surrounding

02:29 what happened here at this property last night.

02:32 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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