Questions remain about why the alleged offender opened fire on the officer, and why the police specialist tactical group remained at the end of a driveway, sending the uniform officers in first.
The Tasmanian police community is in shock after an officer in the process of executing a "routine" job was shot dead on Monday morning — the first shooting death on duty in more than 100 years. The 57-year-old constable, a "genuine, dependable police officer who served the Tasmanian community well for the past 25 years", according to Tasmania's top cop, died while attending a house in North Motton , in the state's north-west.
During a media conference on Monday afternoon, Tasmania Police Commissioner Donna Adams said the officer, along with one other uniformed officer, attended the property to serve a warrant. The Specialist Operations Group , the state's heavily armed specialist tactical unit, was stationed at the bottom of a long driveway at the property. But questions remain about why the alleged offender opened fire on the officer — and why the police specialist tactical group remained at the end of a driveway, sending the uniform officers in first.The uniformed officers were attending a residence on Allison Road in North Motton, a remote town south of Ulverstone.The deceased officer has not been named yet out of respect for the family, some of whom had not been advised of his passing at the time of yesterday's press conference. However, Commissioner Adams confirmed the officer was a 57-year-old "senior and experienced" male who had a "distinguished 25-year career" and held the rank of constable."We've got a family that is grieving and it's really appropriate that they get the opportunity to tell their loved ones of what has tragically occurred today,""As soon as those contacts have been made, we'll provide further information about the identity of the police officer."The occupant of the residence was present when the officers arrived, Commissioner Adams said. At some point between the officer leaving his vehicle and making his way to the front door, he was fatally shot.They responded once they heard the shot. "They were also threatened by the offender and they shot the offender in the hand before making an arrest,"She confirmed a number of first responders, police and "other services" attended the incident.At Monday's press conference, Commissioner Adams said she was "struggling to give you the information". "I've been a police officer for 38 years and I've never seen an incident like this that's resulted in the loss of a life of one of our colleagues and friends," she told reporters. The last police shooting death in Tasmania occurred over a century ago, in 1922, according to Tasmania Police Association president Shane Tilley.Police have not provided any details about the identity of the alleged offender, other than confirming he is a male.Asked if the alleged offender was known to police, she said a Professional Standards investigation will look into understanding "the profile of the offender and whether there were any circumstances that may have led to him having a firearm". As of Tuesday morning, the offender was in hospital receiving treatment for non-life threatening injuries and yet to be charged.The SOG is Tasmania Police's tactical response unit, with similar units in other states and territories.Commissioner Adams said the unit was at the North Motton property "to support the frontline officers". When pressed by reporters as to why the SOG was required, Commissioner Adams said the investigation will "look at the request for the special operations group to provide the front-line response". "Now that we have a permanent special operations group, we can deploy in a wider, broader manner," she said. When pressed further as to why the SOG were at the end of the long driveway at the time of the incident, Commissioner Adams did not answer directly. "There's lots of questions that we all have as a result of the incident and that's why we need to be really methodical in our investigation," she said. "The coroner will direct the course of that investigation and I'm sure that all of the avenues in our inquiry will be examined as part of that investigation."Commissioner Adams said the SOG had attended around 800 "frontline response jobs" in the last 18 months. The Police Association of Tasmania's Shane Tilley said it was common for them to assist frontline police officers in a wide range of jobs, including drug squad investigations, searches, or jobs where buildings may need to be breached. "Some would be high-risk searches … others would have a lower level of risk attached to them … they may not be required to go into an address, or simply just run a little bit of security around the perimeter," Mr Tilly said. He said delivering a court warrant was an "unusual type of job", but this outcome would not have been expected. Mr Tilley said the police crew assigned to any given job could reach out to the SOG "if they thought that there was potential for things to develop". "They would turn up to lend assistance if they were required, they wouldn't ordinarily get in the way of it."Commissioner Adams said every police commissioner from around Australia had reached out to express their support, including "a number of other senior colleagues". She said she would remain in the north-west for the next few days to support the family and all those who were in attendance. "Officer safety is my highest priority, and this incident is a stark reminder of the risks our officers face every day," she said.Wellbeing support is being provided to all officers and individuals affected by the incident, she said. "We are doing everything we can to support our officer's colleagues and family, who are understandably devastated." "The trauma for each of those officers attending in a critical response when one of their own has been killed — I can't imagine the grief they are feeling at the moment.In response to the tragedy, federal Defence Minister and Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles has also paid tribute to the fallen officer, posting on X that he was "saddened to hear" of the man's passing". While Federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has also reached out, saying the event marked a tragic day for the nation.Unrest, Conflict and WarAnalysis by Ian VerrenderPhoto shows A female newsreader in Islamic head dress has a panicked look on her place
Shooting Special Operations Group North Motton Death SOG Shane Tilley Donna Adams Police Commissioner
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