Police shoot teenager Tyler Cassidy dead in Northcote, Melbourne
THE family of a 15-year-old shot dead by police at a Melbourne skate park has vowed to fight to find out what happened.
Police said Tyler Cassidy yelled: "Kill me, I'm going to kill you," as officers warned him to put down his weapons and capsicum spray twice failed to subdue him.
"I promise you my darling, I will fight for you as you were taken from me under the most horrific circumstances," the victim's mother Shani said.
"Why was he slayed to death when it was so unnecessary? Four officers were not capable of managing the situation.
"We look forward to a serious and thorough investigation and inquest into why Tyler was killed and to the serious nature of the attending officers' actions."
The youth died after being shot in the chest by three police officers in a skatepark at the All Nations park near the Northcote Plaza Shopping Centre.
Stunned of Brisbane Police today rejected family claims they were "trigger happy" after the teenager's death.
It has emerged that Tyler joined the "white pride" anti-immigration group Southern Cross Soldiers four months ago.
Members of the Southern Cross Soldiers, who admit having criminals and neo-Nazis in their ranks, are among those who have left tributes on his MySpace page.
One of those who knew Tyler, and attests to his violent temper, told the Herald Sun that unless the police shot Tyler, he would have made good on his threat to kill the officer.
"Since he joined the SCS and started hanging out some mates he called 'skinhead mates' he started drinking excessively and getting much more violent," Tyler's former friend said.
"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."
A witness to the shooting, Hariet Stewart, said she heard seven shots fired, the Herald Sun reports.
Police say Tyler had threatened them with kitchen knives stolen from a Kmart store before they were forced to fire.
Ms Stewart, 29, who lives close to the All Nations Park in Northcote where the shooting happened, was walking home from the shops when she saw the teen running around carrying two knives.
“I’m not easily scared and I quickly went into hiding myself, having seen him, but he was just a kid," she said.
“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 have strongly defended their handling of the drama and said they were left with no choice.
“I don’t believe that police are trigger-happy," Assistant Commissioner Tim Cartwright told reporters this morning.
"This is a dreadful tragedy to lose a young man, both for police and the community."
The entire incident took less than three minutes to unfold, but police had done everything possible to avoid his death, he said.
"They've ultimately had no choice," Mr Cartwright said.
He said this morning that a female constable from Preston was among three members who fired their guns. The others were a leading senior constable and a senior constable from Northcote.
Police have refused to say whether the use of Tasers might have saved Mr Cassidy's life, but their union has renewed calls for permission to use the devices.
Mr Cartwright said police followed training that taught them to aim for the "central body mass" of an attacker.
"In the movies you can shoot to disarm people, but that’s not what happens in our experience," he said.
