Right: A policeman demonstrates the operation of capsicum spray. Apparently the spray had little effect on Tyler Cassidy and doubts have been expressed about its use on mentally-disturbed people.Arguments suggesting Victoria Police officers acted appropriately
1. Tyler Cassidy was armed and appeared a danger to public safetyIt has been reported that Tyler Cassidy had left home in an agitated state. He had apparently tried to take a couple of knives from the family home but was disarmed. His mother is then said to have contacted the police, after her son went out, because she was concerned about his safety. Tyler Cassidy is then reported to have gone to a local Kmart store where he stole two kitchen knives.
Assistant Commissioner Tim Cartwright stated, 'Not long before he'd tried to arm himself with two knives at the family home, this is what the family has told us. They'd disarmed him. He'd left the house in an agitated state and gone to the shopping plaza where we believe he's taken two knives from Kmart.'
Police have requested surveillance footage from inside the Kmart store, which is believed to show the boy slashing boxes in an agitated state.
A witness who saw Tyler Cassidy in the street stated, 'There was a kid and he had two big cleaver knives, but first I turned around because he screamed, he did a really kind of big roar. And then he was like walking really kind of angrily along with these two knives.'
The same witness also stated, 'From what I could tell, he looked like he was either incredibly angry or on ice or something. I thought perhaps he had a vendetta.'
Police were called to the Northcote Plaza Shopping Centre car park about 9.20pm after receiving up to four calls from the public about an agitated male carrying knives. It has been claimed that a number of members of the public clearly felt that Tyler Cassidy was dangerous.
Someone who knew Tyler Cassidy before his death has claimed that the youth had a violent temper. The man told the Herald Sun that unless the police shot Tyler, he would have made good on his threat to kill the officer.
The man claimed that Tyler fell in with the wrong crowd and had befriended a group of skinheads. He said Tyler was known for his sporadic violence.
'Minor things such as randomly attacking people he did not like the look of or acting tough and starting fights with anyone he could. He was always angry and after trying to help him out for longer than anyone else I know more than anyone I know he was beyond help.
Since he joined the SCS [Southern Cross Soldiers] and started hanging out with some mates he called "skinhead mates" he started drinking excessively and getting much more violent.
The officers that shot him most definitely had good reason with the way he was and if they didn't do what they did he wouldn't have stopped,' the former associate told The Herald Sun.
It has also been suggested that Tyler Cassidy may have wanted to be shot. The police have indicated they are investigating a theory that the teenager planned to die in a 'suicide by cop' stand-off. Two emergency calls were made to the police from Tyler Cassidy's mobile phone. In one the caller stated,'Get the cops. I am killing people tonight.' The same caller is the believed to have rung back pretending to be a panicked witness, screaming there was a man with a shotgun who needed to be killed.
2. Tyler Cassidy directly threatened the officers
It has been claimed that Tyler Cassidy directly threatened the police officers before he was shot. Tyler Cassidy was armed with two kitchen knives he is believed to have stolen from a nearby K-Mart store. Before going out on the street he had apparently tried to take knives from the family home, but was disarmed. Tyler Cassidy reportedly called, 'Kill me, I'm going to kill you,' as officers warned him to put down his weapons. A witness has said the teenager looked like he was high on drugs, and was 'terrifying' before he was killed.
Assistant Commissioner Tim Cartwright told reporters that the officers were forced to act as they did. 'They've ultimately had no choice,' Mr Cartwright has said.
Mr Cartwright revealed one of the police officers was apparently backed into a stairway as he tried to calm the situation, before this officer and others opened fire. 'The suggestion is that he backed off and he came to the stairs where he couldn't back off any further,' Mr Cartwright has stated.
The Assistant Commissioner summed up the situation as, 'This happens in a matter of seconds. You've got police who are backing off. You've got a young man extremely agitated with two knives. Three of them obviously saw the need to fire on him.'
It is claimed that the police officers only shot Tyler Cassidy when one or more of their number was in immediate danger of attack.
3. The officers had tried to disarm the young man without resorting to violence
It has been claimed that the police officers who approached Tyler Cassidy did everything they reasonably could to disarm him without using lethal force.
The officers reportedly repeatedly asked Tyler Cassidy to put down his weapons. When Tyler Cassidy did not do as he was asked the officers twice sprayed him with capsicum spray, hoping they would then be able to safely disarm him. The youth was not, however, affected by the spray in a way that allowed him to be safely apprehended.
One of the officers is also claimed to have fired a shot into the ground. The apparent intention was to warn Tyler Cassidy that if he did not surrender his weapons he would be shot. Tyler Cassidy did not appear to respond to this warning and did not put down his weapons.
The whole episode is reported to have occurred very quickly, apparently in no more than about three minutes. Spokespeople for Victoria Police have claimed that in the time available to them and with the resources they had at their disposal the four police officers involved did everything they could to avoid having to shoot Tyler Cassidy.
Assistant Police Commissioner, Tim Cartwright, has stated, 'We train our police members. They've foamed him [with capsicum foam], they talked to him and they've done what they can [before he was shot]. It's a dreadful event.'
4. The officers were not equipped with taser guns
The officers of Victoria Police are not routinely supplied with tasers or other forms of stun equipment. It has therefore been claimed that they used every option they had available to them. They warned; they fired a warning shot into the ground; they used capsicum foam three times.
Only special operations police and critical response officers are equipped with taser guns in Victoria. The incident involving Tyler Cassidy developed too quickly for a special team to be called to the scene. It has been claimed that the officers on the scene took every action available to them in order to avoid using lethal force.
The Police Union has called on the State Government and Victoria Police to issue taser guns to police.
Inspector McKenzie said the Police Association has been campaigning for tasers for some time.
The Inspector has stated, 'The Police Association has been pushing for a long time for all of our operational members to be issued with tasers, so we're obviously disappointed that hasn't been the case. We would hope that the (police) force and the Government will take the necessary steps to ensure that tasers are issued as soon as possible.'
Inspector McKenzie said tasers should be issued to all operational police so that they are less reliant on their firearms.
5. Victoria Police officers are trained to fire at the body if they have to shoot
It has been noted that the police officers who shot Tyler Cassidy were following their training when they shot him in the body.
Assistant Commissioner Tim Cartwright said the police officers followed training that taught them to aim for the 'central body mass' of an attacker. Mr Cartwright stated, 'In the movies you can shoot to disarm people, but that's not what happens in our experience.'
It has been claimed that the training received by Victoria Police is standard in many other countries around the world. 'Our training has always been that way and that's consistent with training across the world,' Assistant Commissioner Tim Cartwright has stated.
In other jurisdictions police officers are trained to shoot for the largest available target or central body mass, once they have made the decision to fire. This is explained by the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland in Chapter 5 of its "Manual of Guidance on Police Use of Firearms", published in January 2001. The manual states:
'5.1 When it is considered necessary to open fire on a subject, police officers need to shoot to stop an immediate threat to life. Research has indicated that only shots hitting the central nervous system (which is largely located in the central body mass) are likely to be effective in achieving rapid incapacitation. Shots which strike other parts of the body cannot be depended upon to achieve this.
5.2 Research has also shown that the accuracy of shots fired under training conditions is generally greater than in operational circumstances. Police officers are therefore normally trained to fire at the largest part of the target they can see, which in most cases will be the central body mass.'
The same training is also given in New Zealand. 'New Zealand police policy is that when it is necessary to shoot a person, the shots are to be placed to incapacitate that person as quickly as possible and thereby neutralise the threat. Incapacitation is best brought about by shots to the chest area - it is the easiest place to hit. There is no policy of shooting to wound. This policy has been upheld in a number of enquiries into New Zealand police shootings.'