In a sign of the times we again get the news via Twitter because the website people are asleep at the switch.
The Chief Police Officer has tweeted that his troops have shot a man dead in Wanniassa overnight.
We have it on good authority the deceased is one Nathan Doherty and this was not the first time he’d been shot by police.
On Nathan’s facebook profile his fave movies were Two Hands, Waking Life, Blue Murder, Chopper, and Natural Born Killers.
UPDATE: The Police media release is now online:
Police have discharged a firearm following a disturbance in Wanniassa earlier this morning (Sunday, February 13).
About 5am ACT Policing responded to a report of a disturbance where a man was armed with a knife and a meat cleaver in Riddell Court.
Police were speaking to the man for approximately half an hour while he was still in the house. The man has exited the house armed with the knife and meat cleaver.
Police made numerous requests for the 27-year-old man to drop his weapons and have withdrawn to approximately 300 metres away with the man following and continually approaching them. All the while police were calling on the man to drop the knife and meat cleaver.
The man has then lunged at the police officer who has fired one shot from his service pistol.
The man was given first aid by the attending police officers and was later treated at the scene by ACT Ambulance Service. He has died at the scene.
This incident is being investigated by ACT Policing Criminal Investigations Team, on behalf of the Coroner, with AFP’s Professional Standards Unit overseeing the matter.
Wheeler Crescent, between Derham Court and McBride Crescent, will be closed for several hours as police investigate the incident.
Here’s his facebook pic as of this morning:
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His poor pregnant gf, how horrible that must’ve been for her
Anna Key said :
well YES!! last time i had a case of VB and a packet of S&V chips then had great idea to take a nice quiet drive in the country did not really go to plan.
buzz819 said :
A good question. I doubt he knows himself, but I can certainly smell “crazy tin-hat wearing funk” coming from his direction…
And Anna, I believe that poster was using sarcasm, a little known comic tool which has been employed in the english language for hundreds of years…
someguy84 said :
WTF are you on about?
While I see this a regretable action for all concerned I wonder how random an event like this is.
Tactics publicly espoused by the police leave no doubt that the individual involved was being harassed having previously encountered them before.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/bigideas/browse/video_popup.htm?vidURL=/tv/bigideas/stories/2009/11/06/2734932-mediarss-full.xml&vidTitle=David%20Mutton%20On%20The%20Policing%20Of%20Our%20Minds&vidLength=Full
So with such detailed knowledge of the person and control of their mood it seem little wonder he was depressed for years prior.
Was his emotional state endogenous or exogenous?
jasere said :
and if he also liked VB, salt and vinegar chips and quiet drives in the country, would you suggest these were causes as well?
“On Nathan’s facebook profile his fave movies were Two Hands, Waking Life, Blue Murder, Chopper, and Natural Born Killers”
Just because someone watches & enjoys rough movies, doesn’t give them an excuse to be a violent person.
I enjoy those same movies, does that mean I’ll be out causing a ruckus & attacking police officers?
It amazes me that people try to find an excuse to blame someone’s behaviour.
I wouldn’t even blame depression on this.
He was obviously pissed about something, but that doesn’t give anyone any excuse to behave in that way.
To threaten someone else’s life in that way, especially someone who is just doing thier job, then he had to accept the inevitable.
I knew Nathan, but this doesn’t mean I will be angry at that police officer who was protecting their self from potential injury.
It was just misfortunate for Nathan that the shot fired by that police officer was fatal, he obviously wasn’t as lucky as last time.
Mysteryman said :
Well said. It’s sad that it had to happen, but I wouldn’t have thought the police would have any alternative.
He’ll never try to pull a stunt like that again! The audacity!
meme said :
Because the police who need tasers the most (first response police) don’t have them.
Oh, and police like to kill people? Are you serious?
I’m glad the police took the action necessary to stop this lunatic. I’m sadden that they will have to deal with the guilt and other mental/emotional issues resulting from the incident though.
We give police officers guns for exactly these sorts of situations. We train them to use firearms effectively and appropriately and when they do, people still complain about it. I’m certainly more interested in the safety of the police than that of someone trying to stab them.
meme said :
You think cops like to kill someone? If someone was running at you with a knife and a meat cleaver what would you do in that circumstance? They had already retreated 300m. If the cop didn’t shoot him he would have been likely been seriously injured or killed himself.
meme said :
Because general duties cops in Canberra don’t carry tasers. Although several shootings in a couple of weeks may be the trigger (no pun intended) for change.
“Two Hands, Waking Life, Blue Murder, Chopper, and Natural Born Killers” OMG!! thats it
its cause of the movies movies and im sure violent video games.
I agree that the police deserve our condolences in this case. Presented with such a situation and having to take a life must be devastating for them. My thoughts go out to the officers involved.
After all this yike over tasers, why didnt they use them?
Why would anyone lunge at armed cops, knowing these days it seems the constabulary like to shoot to kill?
This seems a harsh thing to say, but I recall the massive cop response to the guy who was run to ground in manuka not long ago – I counted 10 cop cars and was almost run off the road by one of them during the pursuit.
Or was this simply suicide by cop?
welkin31 said :
1) Standard firearms training about accurate firing under pressure (aim for the large central mass insteadof something that can move, its simpler and more reliable).
2) Although you’re typically not trying to kill someone, there really isn’t a ‘safe’ place to shoot someone (so you might as well make it effective, if lethal force is required).
3) Also, basic human anatomy means that a puncture to the upper thigh can kill aperson from blood loss within just a few minutes.
troll-sniffer said :
What a load of bollocks, if he wanted to kill himself he could have done it quietly in his own home. Why put that on another person.
As for Gus – he had a go at a couple of Police with a knife and a meatcleaver – ‘good’ guys don’t do that.
Death by cop. If that’s what he wanted, I respect his decision.
Just so sad all round, not enough done for mental health.