A Victorian woman has been shot and killed by police after she was caught attacking her mother with a knife. Both the daughter and mother died at the scene, with Victoria Police describing the situation as a “terrible dilemma”.
Police revealed on Saturday that the night before that an officer was called to the scene of the crime after a neighbour reported that the young woman was trying to set her mother on fire.
Officers arrived at the home in Melbourne’s north-east suburb of Lower Plenty by around 6:30PM.
They reported that upon arrival, the 26-year-old daughter was in the middle of stabbing her 53-year-old mother with a knife.
She continued the assault after being ordered by police to stop, which led one of the officers to fire an unknown amount of shots at her. She died at the scene.
According to Victoria Police’s acting superintendent Scott Colson, the 53-year-old had been killed before shots were fired, as a result of being stabbed in her neck and torso.
Colson shared that the officer’s actions were “within their training”.
“From what I know from attending the scene last night, they were confronted with a terrible dilemma and they’ve acted absolutely appropriately, within their training and within the guidelines,” stated Colson.
“They have my full support along with the broader organisation.”
The officer who fired shots reportedly had four years of experience on the force, while their partner had two more.
“They were feeling it tremendously … they don’t go to work expecting to draw their firearms and be involved in these sorts of tragedies,” said the superintendent.
The incident will be investigated by Homicide Squad detectives.
