Teenage girl shot by police at West End Hotel in Townsville

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Investigations are underway after police shot a 17-year-old girl at a north Queensland pub.  Police say the teenager approached officers with a knife and they shot her in the abdomen. She underwent surgery at the Townsville University Hospital overnight and is in a stable condition.

Transcript

00:00The ethical standards command branch of the Queensland police has arrived in

00:05Townsville today to investigate the police shooting of a 17 year old girl

00:10last night. Queensland police say they were called to the West End Hotel just

00:14before 5.30 p.m. after reports that a girl in the beer garden was armed with a

00:18knife. Police say three officers were in attendance when it's alleged the armed

00:23girl lunged at one of the officers. She was then shot by a police officer in the

00:27abdomen. First aid was immediately provided by police before the girl was

00:31transported to hospital in a critical condition. She's since undergone surgery

00:36and is now in a stable condition. Police say while the incident happened in a

00:40confined space there were members of the public present. We'll provide support to

00:45the officers, we'll provide support to the families of the officers and we've also

00:50engaged with the family of the 17 year old. We'll continue to provide support to

00:54them and given the fact that it's occurred in a you know in a public a public area

00:59where there are other members of the public we will contact those individuals

01:04and offer offer different support for them. The West End Hotel is a busy and

01:08popular pub in Townsville and there was actually a birthday party underway in the

01:12beer garden when the incident happened. The pub did remain open as police cordoned

01:17off the back area while they investigated last night. Patrons and neighbours

01:20reported hearing police yell at the girl before a single shot was fired. Police

01:25have described the incident as sad for all involved. They say they're supporting

01:29the officers involved in the incident and have reached out to the family of the

01:33girl.

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