Shaun Kumeroa, 42,was shot dead after emerging from a car with a gun during a four-hour siege at Inala.
Friends and family said he would be missed and they were in shock after his dramatic death.
“He was certainly a nice guy (but) like anybody had his problems. He had some personal issues,’’ one relative, who did not want to be named, said.
Mr Kumeroa, who had been living on Chevron Island on the Gold Coast, recently split from his partner and was missing their young daughter.
Police spent almost four hours negotiating with Mr Kumeroa, who was armed with a handgun and had refused to get out of a car parked at an Inala unit block Monday afternoon.
Shaun Kumeroa died in a siege at Inala on Monday.
When he did suddenly emerge from the car he appeared to raise his gun infront of police before being shot several times.
Shelly Redding and her partner Nigel Butkowski were in their townhouse when the drama unfolded in the car park of their complex.
Mr Butkowski briefly spoke to Mr Kumeroa from his bedroom window on the second floor of his home and tried to calm him down.
He said at one moment he made eye contact with him from about 20m away.
“I said ‘don’t do it mate, don’t do it’,” Mr Butkowski said.
Shaun Kumeroa emerges from a car with a handgun moments before being shot dead. Pic: Channel Nine Brisbane
“He wasn’t erratic, he was basically sitting there looking straight ahead.
“In a few hours I only saw a couple of dozen moves.”
The couple said they stayed in the house about three hours before an officer told them they were in the line of fire and SERT evacuated them after climbing over their back fence.
“They were saying to him ‘get out, get out, drop all weapons,” Ms Redding said.
“‘Get out of the car and put your hands on your head’.”
SERT officers stand watch as paramedics tend to the shot man. Pic: Liam Kidston
She said they understood the man told police he had been trying to see his daughter but was unable to.
“The policeman said they would ring (his daughter) for him,” Ms Redding said.
When they rolled water to him she said he replied: “He said you could have brought it down I’m not going to shoot anyone.”
The couple were evacuated about 30 minutes before he was shot.
“You could see straight away he wasn’t in his right mind,” Ms Redding said
“After all the hours he was slumped back on the car seat.
“He must have been coming down … and thought ‘Gee, oh my God, what have I done’.
“And it was way too late.”
Eearlier
OFFICERS had no choice but to shoot a gunman after a lengthy stand-off in Brisbane, the Queensland Police Union says.
Police spent almost four hours negotiating with the man, who was armed with a handgun and refused to get out of a car that was parked at an Inala unit block on Monday.
Officers shot dead the 42-year-old when he threatened police.
Reports that he’d pointed his weapon at officers are expected to form part of an investigation by the ethical standards command.
A report is also being prepared for the coroner.
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the officers appeared to have no choice and were acting in self defence.
“That is the difficult and dangerous nature of police work.
“Things happen so quickly. You have to make instantaneous decisions, there are no other options,” he told ABC radio.
He said the officers involved would be having a difficult time, and the union would support them, including through the ethical standards investigation.
“I can say when you’ve used force, and things have changed dramatically, you never get over it. You have to learn to live with it and it is not easy.”
OVERNIGHT
The Courier-Mail reported heavily armed police called to a “drug deal gone wrong’’ shot dead a man after he pulled a gun on them after a four-hour siege at Inala in Brisbane’s southwest.
Specialised SERT officers surrounded the man, using the heavily armoured BearCat vehicle for cover as he held them at bay from the front seat of a car.
Attempts to negotiate with the man broke down when he suddenly got out of the vehicle and pointed what appeared to be a handgun at the officers.
Live-streamed footage from television helicopters captured the shooting, which is now subject to an internal Ethical Standards Command investigation.
“It all changed so quick,” said Chris Polson, who watched it unfold.
“(It) was all calm, then all of a sudden the guy got out of his car.”
A resident from the Gannet St apartment block said he was working on his car when he saw police arrive.
“Four policemen got out, went in, went around to where the car was sitting,” he said.
“They saw a gun and said ‘gun, gun, gun, drop the gun, drop the gun, drop the gun’. I got my little arse around behind the car. Then everything broke loose from there.”
The resident of the seven-unit complex said he heard five shots.
Police arrived at the units about noon and were attempting to speak to the man when he produced what appeared to be a handgun.
An area of the suburb was put into lockdown.
SERT officers arrived with the armoured vehicle and parked it alongside the man’s car, keeping automatic weapons drawn on him throughout the incident.
The officers could be seen surrounding the man, two of them perched on the bonnet of the BearCat.
Residents were told to stay indoors as the agitated man remained in his vehicle.
SERT officers debrief after the incident. Pic: Liam Kidston
Police attempted to calm the 42-year-old, giving him a mobile phone so he could speak to a police negotiator and tossing him a bottle of water as the seige continued.
But shortly before 4pm, the man, who could be seen moving back and forth in his seat, suddenly emerged from the car with the gun.
“I can confirm … a male person has been shot. Unfortunately that person is deceased. The police Ethical Standards Command are investigating that incident and the matter will be put before the coroner,’’ Inspector Richard Kroon said.
“We were hopeful that this would be a peaceful resolution – that’s what we always strive to achieve and unfortunately this matter hasn’t turned out that way.”
Police move into position at the height of the siege. Pic: Liam Kidston
Police, then paramedics worked on the man but he died at the scene.
“It’s a bit of a reminder about what police can encounter on any day,” Insp Kroon said.
The man was not a resident of the unit complex but was known to frequent the area.
The tragic incident coincided with National Police Remembrance Day, and Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said it was a poignant reminder of what it meant to be a police officer.
He said the incident demonstrated the unpredictable nature of police work and the real threat that could occur while police were protecting the community.
