A critical incident has been declared, after police on the New South Wales central coast fatally shot a man. Police allege he tried to set an officer on fire.
00:00Police were called to a property at Springfield on the NSW Central Coast a few hours north of Sydney yesterday afternoon with concerns for welfare for a 49 year old man.
00:12Now officers did attend the property with the support of the mental health clinician.
00:16This man was known to police but in a very limited capacity.
00:21Now through the afternoon and evening police did try to speak to the man without entering the property.
00:27They had an understanding that he was armed with sharp objects and at one point the man did light an aerosol product in an attempt to injure police.
00:37That led to police entering the property and there was an altercation where the man was armed with a sharp object according to police
00:46and in that altercation a police officer was injured with minor injuries and unfortunately it led to multiple shots being fired
00:55and the 49 year old man did die at the scene.
00:59Now due to the death of the man a critical incident investigation has been established by NSW Police to investigate the response of officers that did attend the property.
01:10NSW Police Commissioner for the Northern Region David Waddell said that that investigation is quite standard in these sorts of situations
01:18and he said he's confident his officers responded in an appropriate manner.
01:23Our tactical officers are very experienced officers and they deal with a number of dangerous situations.
01:29They obviously undertake some arduous training and they do a very good job on very, very many occasions.
01:37On this occasion it is a critical incident. There will be a critical incident investigation team that will review the actions of police to ensure that they are in line with our policy and legislation.
01:48But yes, our police do an outstanding job.
01:50Now in the altercation with the 49 year old man and these police officers at Springfield yesterday, as I mentioned, an officer was injured.
01:58Now the injuries are very minor according to police and what they told us this morning.
02:04We were told that protective clothing that the officer was wearing did protect him from other injuries that could have been sustained due to this issue.
02:12Now this critical investigation could take months, we heard from police.
02:17It's quite an extensive situation and procedure that is undertaken.
02:21And the report that is prepared by New South Wales Police will be independently reviewed by the Professional Standards Committee and the Law Enforcement Committee.
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