Police told to stay back before fatal shot

An acting police sergeant had ordered his officers to not approach Tyler Cassidy
moments before the teenager was shot dead, an inquest has heard.
Scott Gevaux, who was an acting sergeant and in direct command on the night of the
15-year-old's death, had wanted to contain a northern Melbourne skate park to
protect the public after Tyler was spotted there armed with two knives.
As he raced to the scene in his police cruiser, Leading Senior Constable Gevaux told
officers over the police radio not to approach Tyler and wait until a dog unit, or
K-9, arrived to help control the situation, he told the Victorian Coroners Court on
Wednesday.
"I've been in incidents before where a K-9 is effective," said the officer, who had
13 years of policing experience at the time of the shooting.
"In my experience it's an effective tool."
But within 75 seconds of his giving the order, his officers were radioing for an
ambulance.
Tyler had been fatally shot, his lifeless body slumped near the Northcote skate
park's half-pipe.
The inquest has heard that Tyler was killed on December 11, 2008 after confronting
senior constables Richard Blundell, Nicole de Propertis and Antonia Ferrante and
Sergeant Colin Dods.
Despite not listening to his order, Leading Sen Const Gevaux told the inquest that
he still supported the decision of the four officers to act, praising two of them as
non-aggressive and intelligent members of the force.
He explained that officers have to be given the freedom to respond as they see fit
during critical incidents, which can change rapidly.
"It could be changing on a second-by-second basis," he said.
"I'm not there ... I'm not critical of them at all."
Another officer gave testimony on Wednesday that Tyler's mother had told her the
teenager had anger management issues.
Shani Cassidy had arrived at the scene looking for her missing son when she spoke
with then Leading Senior Constable Anna Dickinson.
Mrs Cassidy told her that Tyler had been "extremely angry" earlier that day and had
sent a text message to his brother saying "he was going to kill himself", the
officer said in a tendered statement.
"She had rung Northcote police station and spoke to a male police member," the
officer recalled Mrs Cassidy telling her.
"Told him to look out for Tyler as police should be careful he doesn't hurt them or
himself."
The officer said she didn't tell Mrs Cassidy that her son was dead during their
conversation because she still had an element of doubt about the identification of
the victim.
Under cross-examination she testified that she had a "very high level of confidence"
in her recollection of the conversation and Mrs Cassidy's warning about her son.
The inquest before State Coroner Jennifer Coate continues.