By Luke Voogt
Police have charged a man after he allegedly fired a police handgun at a North Geelong business in front of his mother.
The 36-year-old man appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court Thursday afternoon facing charges including endangering life, serious police assault and indictable resisting arrest.
Geelong Superintendent Craig Gillard said it was “incredibly lucky” no one was hurt in the dangerous incident.
Police arrived at the North Geelong mechanics on Separation Street at 8am Thursday following reports of a workplace dispute.
“My understanding is that the dispute arose over a tool in a mechanic’s workshop,” Supt Gillard.
Two officers attempted to “quell” the dispute between two men, one of whom “was about to leave that business,” he said.
“It’s escalated to the extent where a male has assaulted another male in front of the police. That’s resulted in police deploying capsicum spray into the face of the male.
“That hasn’t had the desired effect and he’s then moved his attention to police.”
The two police officers went “hands-on” hands to arrest the man, Supt Gillard said.
“While on the ground … that male offender has reached for our police member firearm and that’s resulted in the firearm being discharged.”
Supt Gillard said the handgun never left the holster during the incident.
“Early stages of our investigation indicate that the police members have not done anything wrong, they’ve acted purely in accordance with policy and their training.”
Victoria Police’s Professional Standards Command took statements from the officers and will inspect the handgun and holster.
“From there it’s very much about (the officers’) health and well-being,” Supt Gillard.
“(The incident was) incredibly traumatising to our police members and the other witnesses involved.”
Supt Gillard said the officer whose firearm discharged was new to the force.
“We’re confident we’ve got all the right services around (the officers involved) and we’ll give them all the support they’ll need.”
A number of people witnessed the incident, including the 36-year-old man’s mother, Supt Gillard said.
Nobody was injured as a result of the firearm discharging and a police officer sustained minor scratches as a result of the incident.
