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Man shot dead by WA police at Perth home

A man has been shot dead and two police officers injured in a confrontation in Perth's south-east.

A man has been shot dead and two police officers injured in a confrontation in Perth's south-east. Photo: ABC News

A man armed with a knife has been shot dead by a police officer during a “violent struggle” at a Perth home in which two officers were also injured.

Police were called to the home in Gosnells, in Perth’s south-east, about 1am on Monday in response to reports of a dispute between the two male residents.

WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch said four officers attended the home and spoke to one of the men, aged in his 30s, before he armed himself with a knife.

In the struggle that ensued, one officer suffered a knife wound to the arm and another injured his hand.

Police deployed capsicum spray and a Taser before an officer drew his gun and fired two to three shots, with the man declared dead about 1.40am.

“There was quite a violent struggle prior to that, and police were doing everything they could to subdue the male,” Deputy Commissioner Blanch said on Monday.

Homicide detectives are investigating the incident with oversight from the police internal affairs unit and the Corruption and Crime Commission.

It has also been referred to the coroner and an inquest will eventually be held.

Deputy Commissioner Blanch said footage from body-worn cameras would be reviewed as part of the probe.

The wounded officers were taken to Armadale Hospital for treatment but have since been discharged.

It was not yet clear whether all of the shots fired had hit the man or which officers had deployed the Taser and capsicum spray, the deputy commissioner said.

The officers involved will take critical incident leave and be provided with welfare support.

“No officer expects to go to work and have this occur to them,” Mr Blanch said.

“So that’s something that they will need to work through themselves and I support those officers in getting that support.”

The incident comes days after a first-class constable who shot dead an Indigenous woman on a suburban street in Geraldton in 2019 was acquitted of her murder.

The WA Supreme Court jury on Friday also found the officer not guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The dead man is not believed to be Indigenous. It is not yet clear whether he was known to police.

Responding to the Gosnells incident, Premier Mark McGowan said he had been advised the officers’ lives had been in “grave danger”.

“Obviously it’s a very distressing situation,” he said.

“The police do a very difficult job in sometimes very hostile circumstances and I’m sure we’re all thinking of them.”

-AAP

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