Police in Yarra Junction were forced to shoot a man who was violently assaulting his sister on Wednesday night after multiple taser rounds failed to subdue him.
The 48-year-old woman was airlifted to hospital with a partially severed arm and remains in a coma, while the 45-year-old man was declared dead at the scene.
It came after the siblings’ mother called police around 5.30pm, 30 July, after a fight had broken out between the pair.
Upon arrival at the Warburton Highway property, the police officers were briefed by the mother outside the home before entering to find the brother strangling his sister, who appeared unconscious and had a partially severed arm.
Police tasered the man multiple times, but were forced to shoot him to stop the assault and save the woman.
“What I’ve observed is a male strangling a female and without intervention by police, I think that would have been life-threatening,” Victoria Police Eastern Region Assistant Commissioner Russell Barrett said.
“We hope they’ve saved a life by their actions.”
A sword was found at the scene.
“The advice was that he had… a sword, that is what we’ve located. At this stage, the connection to that and the injuries is part of the investigation.”
“I’ve observed a female who’s been subjected to a significant injury, which I think would be reasonable to say is from a weapon of some description,” Mr Barrett said.
The man was known to police due to a history of mental health.
The 77-year-old mother was distressed and was also taken to hospital for shock.
“You can imagine what the mother is going through at this moment.
“It’s a tragic circumstance for a family and for a relatively small rural community who know their community and know their police,” Mr Barrett said.
He reviewed the officer’s body cam footage and said they acted “entirely appropriately”, adding the two officers were distressed after the incident.
“These police officers have come to work doing what they do every day in a relatively small community, had been confronted with a situation where they’ve had to take life-taking action.
“It’s what they’re trained to do and they’re trained very, very well. But no police officer wants to take these actions.”
One officer was a leading senior constable while the other was a senior constable, and Mr Barrett said they were both “experienced members”.
Forensic examiners remain on scene and investigations are ongoing.
The State Coroner, Judge John Cain, attended the scene on Wednesday evening.
“Our police are part of that community and they’ve acted courageously and in my view absolutely appropriately,” Mr Barrett said.
Police are still searching the premises and investigations remain ongoing.
