Armed man shot near highway after fleeing crash, police say

Police have shot a man they said was armed with a gun following a crash on the Sunshine Coast – one day after he allegedly threatened a neighbour with the weapon during a dispute.

Officers were initially called to a single-vehicle crash on a median strip near the Sippy Downs exit of the Sunshine Motorway shortly before midday on Wednesday.

Detective Acting Inspector Kerri Della-Vedova said the 31-year-old driver failed to stop at the scene and was followed by police to Nambour Connection Road, near the Bruce Highway off-ramp, where he got out of the vehicle armed with a gun.

Della-Vedova said he was shot as he approached officers, and suffered a serious wound to his right shoulder and arm.

A crime scene was established and the man was taken by ambulance to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital shortly after 12.30pm.

Police union president Shane Prior said officers had been forced to pursue the man on foot, and had not opted to use a taser before reaching for their guns as the man was “brandishing a firearm to members of the public”.

“Police were confronted with a situation where the male person was armed with a firearm, and they feared for both their lives and the lives of members of the public,” Prior said.

“The appropriate use of force in that circumstance was the use of a firearm.”

Della-Vedova said another man might have helped the 31-year-old, but she would not be drawn on details about the second man.

Prior said the 31-year-old had allegedly brandished the gun during a neighbourhood dispute on Tuesday, one day before he was shot by police.

“What this demonstrates to me is that this person was extremely dangerous and he was hostile, and he was willing to use a firearm – take it out in public – not caring for anyone else other than himself,” Prior said.

The man was recovering in hospital in a stable condition on Wednesday afternoon, and police said they were yet to lay charges.

The Ethical Standards Command opened an investigation, and Prior said he was confident the officers involved had acted lawfully and used appropriate force.

“Our police today were confronted with an armed and dangerous individual, and they should be commended for their bravery,” he said.

“This male person is lucky that he is able to be in a hospital tonight and recover from his injuries because it was because of his actions that he found himself in the situation that he did.”

The shooting was the second in two days in which officers shot a civilian they suspected was armed.

On Tuesday, a 21-year-old man was killed in Tingalpa during a mental health-related welfare check.

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