Man shot dead by Tas police, officer hurt

A 21-year-old man has been shot dead after scuffling with a police officer at his
home in northern Tasmania.
Police attended the house at Jones Street, Westbury, near Launceston, on Sunday
morning when they say the officer was assaulted.
"During the assault the police officer has fired his service firearm and shot the
21-year-old resident," Northern District Commander Richard Cowling said.
Commander Cowling said police provided first aid to the man and an ambulance was
called but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
They said no one else was in the house at the time.
A neighbour, who gave his name as Jamie, said the officer appeared to have been
seriously assaulted.
"The police officer was on the ground, he had blood coming out of his ears and was
crawling on the ground," he told WIN News.
"He was in a lot of pain when they took him on the stretcher ... he kept falling to
the ground."
The officer was treated at the Launceston General Hospital for a soft tissue head
injury and shock, before being released on Sunday afternoon.
Another neighbour said the deceased man recently moved to the area and had a
six-month-old baby.
Tasmania Police Professional Standards and the state coroner will conduct separate
investigations.
Sergeant Adrian Leary said the local police force was shocked by the incident.
"He was absolutely a well-respected officer," he said.
Sgt Leary said a domestic dispute had occurred at the address on Saturday and the
woman involved had requested police attend on Sunday morning.
"The female contacted us yesterday about wanting him out, the relationship had some
sort of incident occur and as a result she wanted him to remove his property and
leave," he said.
"They were there to keep the peace."