Trigger warning: This article makes references to mental health and self-harming.
An “extensive” inquiry will be conducted into the fatal shooting of a 40-year-old man by police in Adelaide on Tuesday after an alleged mental health episode.
South Australian police were called to a home in Craigburn Farm in the early hours of Tuesday morning after reports the man was allegedly self-harming.
The South Australian police commissioner Grant Stevens said four officers attended the man’s home after his girlfriend made the report.
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Police alleged the man threatened them with a knife, and they deployed a taser, which was unsuccessful.
They then alleged they shot the man after he continued to threaten officers with the knife. Mr Stevebs said more than one of the officers discharged their weapons but it was unclear at this stage how many shots were fired.
The man later died in hospital.
Mr Stevens announced the “extensive” inquiry into the incident, saying it would be led by detective chief superintendent Scott Fitzgerald.
“The police officers appear at this time to have acted in the accordance with their training and taken the action necessary to protect themselves and the ambulance officers who were on the scene,” he said.
“As you can appreciate, this is a very difficult situation for police and all other people who are involved in the situation, as well as the extended family of those police officers and the patrol partners and team members.”