Pingelly community, police rally after shooting incident where a man allegedly ran at an officer with knives

A police and Aboriginal advisory group will be formed in Pingelly and youth engagement programs will start from next week, after a 28-year-old Indigenous man, allegedly armed with two knives, was shot by a police officer in the early hours of Sunday morning. The tiny town of Pingelly has rallied together in the wake of the incident, with Great Southern Police District officers meeting with Aboriginal elders and community leaders, as well as the Shire of Pingelly and school representatives on Monday. Great Southern Acting Superintendent Glenn Spencer said attendees at the meeting spoke about the “circumstances leading up to the shooting” and what ongoing support could be provided to the community into the future. Deputy Commissioner Allan Adams on Sunday said the police officer was confronted by the armed man after he was called to a home on Eliot Street about 4.15am by frantic family members concerned about his “aggressive and erratic behaviour”. Mr Adams said the man, armed with two knives, immediately ran at the responding officer, who had responded to the incident alone. The officer deployed a taser on the man which was ineffective, Mr Adams said. He said the armed man approached within one metre of the officer before he fired a single shot into his torso and then performed “lifesaving first aid” on him. It was understood at least one family member witnessed the incident, which was also captured on a police body-worn camera. The man was flown to Royal Perth Hospital where he remained in a stable condition on Tuesday. Mr Adams said police officers around the State never intended on using their firearm but went to work prepared for the unexpected. “And it takes a whole heap of training and responsibility of those individual officers. And I strongly believe that the officer in this instance has executed that standard really well,” he said. Speaking on Tuesday, Acting Supt Spencer said the meeting on Monday was “very positive” and “everyone left informed and confident”. “What was particularly pleasing was the Aboriginal community offering their support for the officer involved and him returning to the community, and also for the person involved in the shooting,” he said. “It is also about ensuring he (the man who was shot) gets the appropriate help he needs going forward.” Acting Supt Spencer said Aboriginal affairs division police would remain in Pingelly for the rest of the week and an Aboriginal advisory group would also be formed in Pingelly. “What is important for police is to not provide support for the town for only a week,” he said. “We want to make these ongoing programs, make it sustainable for a long period of time. “As a group we came up with a plan to move forward together, which involved several youth-focused programs and activities, some of those will start from next week. “One for next week is we are trying to get the Eagles or Dockers to do a footy clinic with the youth in the community. “Local police will also be working with the local Aboriginal community to organise a youth basketball program.” Shire chief executive Andrew Dover said Pingelly was a close-knit community and the “incident has affected us all”. “The feeling in the community is mostly one of concern for the welfare of both the young man that was shot and the police officer involved,” he said. “There is no blame or tension within the community, only a pressing urgency and desire that mental health, Aboriginal and youth issues are addressed at all levels so that this cannot happen again. “The police along with other stakeholders now as part of their review and actions arising from the meeting will examine what practical actions can be taken to address these issues and assist the healing process not only in the short term but into the future as well.” Premier Mark McGowan on Monday said the officer was alone because his colleague had called in sick. It is understood the officer made the decision to respond to the emergency alone after not being able to reach his colleague. “These are small Wheatbelt towns. What often happens in the smaller Wheatbelt towns is there are sometimes two or three police based in individual communities because they are very small, and on this occasion, one of the police officers called in sick, there was an emergency, a police officer went out on his or her own to deal with the issue and then obviously the discharge of a firearm took place,” Mr McGowan said. “That is an unusual event, it doesn’t happen often, but on this occasion, because of the illness, that is what was required.” When asked if he believed regional police stations were adequately staffed, Mr McGowan said he believed they were. He said “we have the highest number of police officers in regional WA in history and we are recruiting 1100 additional police officers”. Mr McGowan said “we want to provide all the support that we can” to the police officer, saying that he understood it would be a very stressful time. WA Police Union president Mick Kelly and senior vice-president Paul Gale attended the scene on Sunday to offer support to the officer involved. Acting Supt Spencer said only the major regional police stations were manned 24/7 and the officer could have requested support from Brookton, 20km away, but made the “critical decision to attend the incident straight away”. The responding officer is on mandatory critical incident leave, but has expressed his desire to return to Pingelly, and the local community have expressed that as well, according to Acting Supt Spencer. “I have met personally with the officer and spoken to him a few times,” he said. “He is really appreciative of the support he’s received from the agency, the union and the community as well. I passed on the support from the local elders. “All of that is helping him deal with the situation itself.” Investigations into the shooting are under way by the police homicide squad and the police internal affairs unit.