An internal investigation will look at whether Victoria Police’s “non-lethal tactics” to draw out a man holed up inside a Werribee property may have caused his death on Sunday night.
A nine-hour police stand-off with an aggravated burglary suspect, ended with police discovering the 35-year-old man had died during the siege, when they entered the house and found his body about 7.30pm.
The siege began about 10.30am on Sunday, with police swarming a Kookaburra Avenue address to arrest the man, who was wanted over an aggravated burglary in Hoppers Crossing the night before.
He’s alleged to have forced his way into a home at gunpoint during the burglary. No one was hurt in that incident, but the female victim recognised him and went to Werribee police station to report him.
Police said the man wouldn’t let them enter the home on Sunday and he then barricaded himself inside the property.
Superintendent Tim Hansen told media on Sunday night that police negotiated with the man and “tried to engage him in conversation, tried to make a surrender plan with him to come out peacefully”.
He said police negotiated with the man over a nine-hour period on an “ad hoc basis”.
“The conversation was on and off at different times. He did indicate when we arrived here that he was in possession of a firearm,” Superintendent Hansen said.
“During the last couple of hours we lost communications with him, we weren’t able to engage with him, so we then deployed a series of non-lethal tactics, trying to encourage him to surrender peacefully to police.”
Three shots or bangs were heard just before 7pm, following by another threea few minutes later. Police were then seen putting on what appeared to be gas masks and preparing to use tear gas.
Heavily-armed police stormed the home a few minutes later.
Police had initially described the man’s death as a suicide, but later revealed how the man went silent after officers used “non-lethal” options in a bid to flush him out of the property.
When questioned at the scene over whether these tactics actually killed the man, Superintendent Hansen said “that will be subject to an investigation”.
“We are confident there are no other suspicious circumstances in relation to his death, but we will work with the coroner and there will also be an internal police investigation into the circumstances of that death,” he said.
Nearby homes and a community centre were evacuated and the road was closed to traffic during the siege.
A neighbour said an officer had asked him to leave the area for his own safety.
“They told us they had a search warrant for the house, but the guy refused to get out,” he said.
“He was just refusing to leave. He was in the backyard, chucking things over the fence, just making noise, I guess trying to scare them off.”
Crime scene tape was soon put up near the home as homicide detectives arrived at the scene.
Police have refused to comment about what types of tactical measures were used and the investigation continues.
Anyone with information on the burglary, or the siege, can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Emily Woods and Steve Lillebuen, The Age
