Queensland’s corruption watchdog will help investigate a fatal police shooting of a man described as a high-risk offender, north of Brisbane.

August 6, 2023

Queensland’s corruption watchdog will oversee an investigation into the fatal police shooting of a man who allegedly threatened officers with a handgun.

Commissioner Katarina Carroll says she is concerned about a rise in police shootings amid an increase in incidents linked to domestic violence and mental illness.

The 29-year-old man was shot dead at a house north of Brisbane late on Saturday as police attempted to execute an arrest warrant at the property.

Commissioner Carroll said the man was considered a high risk offender wanted on a return to prison warrant, with 47 indictable criminal offences.

“Officers reported that the man threatened them with a handgun when they discharged their own firearms,” she told reporters on Sunday.

Paramedics were called about 5.25pm but the man was declared dead at the scene.

Commissioner Carroll said body-worn camera footage would be used by the force’s ethical standards command to investigate the matter on behalf of the state coroner.

The Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission will overview the investigation.

Asked about a recent ABC report that Queensland police shot more people last year than police in the rest of Australia combined, the commissioner said it was concerning.

“That’s why each of (the shootings) are looked at individually,” she said.

“They are heavily interrogated, heavily investigated, independently investigated as well.”

Commissioner Carroll said officers were responding to an increased number of mental health-related incidents.

“It is very difficult to respond to a knife, which is so quick and often lethal,” she said.

“What is really clear post-COVID is the stats, in a lot of matters, are exponentially increasing – mental health stats, (domestic violence) stats, youth crime stats.”