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Indigenous man shot ‘in buttock’ by NSW police

A police officer with a drawn gun in a residential street at Cowra. Photo: Facebook

A police officer with a drawn gun in a residential street at Cowra. Photo: Facebook

An Indigenous man has been shot during a confrontation with police at Cowra, in the NSW Central West.

Police said local officers had been pursuing Dennis John Doolan, 32, for some time when they attempted to speak to him on Jindalee Circuit.

Assistant Police Commissioner Geoff McKechnie confirmed there were a number of confrontations between Mr Doolan and police before he was shot about 12:10pm.

“He was being sought by police today when this incident occurred,” he said.

“There were a number of confrontations between this person and police, we will allege, over a period of 40 minutes.

It’s early days but we will be conducting a very thorough inquiry to get to the bottom of that incident.”

Dennis John Doolan

PHDennis John Doolan was shot by local police at Cowra. Photo: Supplied

Paramedics treated Mr Doolan for a gunshot wound to his lower back or buttock.

He was later airlifted to Orange Base Hospital where he is in a stable condition.

Mr McKechnie confirmed Mr Doolan was known to police and that he was armed at various times during the stand-off.

“My understanding is that on a number of occasions during this pursuit this morning with this person of interest that he armed himself a number of times,” he said.

“I understand that at one point he was armed with a screwdriver but not at the time he was shot.”

The incident occurred in a suburban street and a number of photographs have been posted to social media.

One photograph shows an officer with his hand gun aimed at Mr Doolan while two other officers stand nearby.

Mr Doolan appears to have his back turned to the armed officer.

Watch footage from the incident below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VcmSTd-ZVk

Mr McKechnie stressed that the photograph did not depict the moment Mr Doolan was shot.

“It was earlier in the pursuit,” he told reporters in Dubbo.

Mr McKechnie urged any members of the community who witnessed the incident or took photographs to contact police.

A critical incident investigation has been launched to determine the circumstances of the shooting and will be overseen by officers from Tamworth Police and the Professional Standards Unit.

Extra officers from neighbouring regions have been deployed to Cowra and Mr McKechnie urged local residents to remain calm.

“We’d urge the community down there to remain calm,” he said.

“An incident has occurred, we will thoroughly investigate it, and the findings of that investigation will at some point be made public.”

-ABC

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