STOP OR BE SHOT

Court hears chilling details of attack on police

“IF YOU come in I will be forced to shoot you.”

Seconds later a gunshot rang out inside the Bowen Police Station and a man on a drug-fuelled suicide attempt lay seriously injured.

Shocking footage of the incident on October 9 last year was played in court yesterday and showed the moment Du Hai Le, 36, armed with a 17cm kitchen knife, was shot by police after he had smashed his way into the station.

The Townsville Supreme Court was told Le, who was in an ice-induced psychosis, wanted police to fatally injure him as he believed his estranged wife and young son had been killed.

Crown prosecutor Nigel Rees said Le, who has no criminal history, armed himself with a 17cm kitchen knife and went to the police station.

In CCTV played to the court, Le can be seen trying to get into the building. He throws himself against a reinforced glass door a number of times, then smashes a door and climbs through the shattered glass.

A group of police officers behind another glass door confronted him. The tense and chaotic moment is captured on one officer’s body-worn camera.

Police can be heard telling Le to step back from the door. A taser was used in an attempt to slow Le’s approach, but was unsuccessful.

At one point an officer asks if anybody has a gun.

As things escalate, officers can be heard screaming “drop the knife”.

Their cries become more desperate until the officers begin bargaining with their attacker to slow down.

“Who are you here to see,” a male voice yells.

“Stop! Get on the ground,” a woman’s voice adds.

“Don’t come in. If you come in I will be forced to shoot you. Wait wait … What do you want. What are you doing! Mate, hang on. What is going on?”

A single gunshot echoes through the station.

Le’s mother, who sat alongside other family members at the back of court, cried as the CCTV was played.

Mr Rees said that when Le regained consciousness days later he told police at the hospital that he did not want to kill anyone, and later asked officers to kill him.

“He told (a) doctor he had consumed methamphetamine on the morning of the offence. He wanted to be shot in the head because of the voices in his head,” Mr Rees said.

Victim impact statements from senior constables Jason Martin and Renee Schnider revealed the impact the attack had.

Constable Schnider had been about to leave work to pick up her young children when the attack took place.

“This is not the first time I have confronted an armed offender; this remains the single time that I was confronted by someone that was so hellbent and motivated on killing me,” her statement said.

“Without the decisions we made, Mr Le would have stabbed and likely killed me or one of my colleagues. When I asked him what he wanted, I clearly recall the look of Mr Le when he looked at me and said ‘you’.”

Constable Schnider said the incident had a lasting impact on her family and the security at the station, which she said used to be a safe haven for her and other officers.

Defence barrister Harvey Walters said Le spiralled into his methamphetamine induced psychosis after his drug use caused his marriage to break down.

“He had been overcome by various auditory hallucinations and delusional beliefs and convinced his wife and son had been murdered,” Mr Walters said.

“He had a systemised conspiracy … this became his reality.”

Le pleaded guilty to five charges including intending to cause grievous bodily harm and other malicious acts, serious assault of a police officer while armed and wilful damage.

He was originally charged with attempted murder but had those charges downgraded.

In sentencing, Justice David North said he took into account the “unusual” circumstances and Le’s lack of criminal history.

He said the case raised particular issues in respect to the interests of justice and public concern.

Le received a head sentence of seven years. The 401 days spent in presentence custody is considered time already served. He will be eligible for parole in February 2022.