Police Shooting: Police Fatally Injuring Darfield Man Justified, IPCA Rules

Police have been acquitted of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a man who threatened his family with a firearm.

Officers fired 10 shots at Donald Ineson, who later died after a bullet fragment struck him.

The 56-year-old Darfield man died after police responded to reports that he was threatening his family with a firearm in November 2018.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority investigated and released its report on Tuesday, saying the shooting was legally justified.

He said Ineson’s wife, Joanne, called 111 to report that her husband had pointed a shotgun at her during an argument.

During the call, he heard two shots.

A few minutes later she reported that she was shooting at the front door.

“Although Mrs. Ineson reasonably believed at the time that Mr. Ineson had fired his shotgun at the door, a subsequent examination of the scene revealed that he had used an ax to enter and get the keys to his car,” says the report from the IPCA.

“In the minds of the officers, Mr. Ineson was volatile and dangerous, and potentially suicidal,” said IPCA President Judge Colin Doherty.

The authority said it would have been preferable for additional officers to attend the job, as it was dangerous to enter property and face an armed criminal.

“However, it was reasonable that they decided to go directly to the address given the circumstances and the urgency of the situation,” the new report added.

“They feared it would deliberately collide with another vehicle, potentially killing or seriously injuring any occupant of that vehicle.”

Officers said they also believed Ineson might still have had the shotgun with him and were concerned that he would use it against other police officers in his efforts to escape.

But the IPCA said that the likelihood of these risks occurring was low and that shooting Ineson to prevent her escape in these circumstances was not justified.

However, the legal test for that situation involved evaluating whether the force was reasonable under the circumstances, as the officers believed the circumstances to be.

A ‘good man’: widow

In a statement attributed to Ineson’s wife, Joanne, and released to the media Tuesday morning, the family expressed some relief at the IPCA findings.

“We are relieved that the IPCA has confirmed that my husband did not have time to react and did not deliberately hit a police officer who ran in front of his moving vehicle as he was leaving his home,” she said in the statement.

“However, we believe that the subsequent actions of the officers at the scene, which led to the death of my husband, were excessive.”

“My husband will be remembered by his family, friends and coworkers as a good man.”

Wounded officer

As Ineson accelerated in her vehicle, she struck a police officer in the leg.

“The force of the impact sent [him] it climbed onto the hood of the car, through the windshield and onto the roof before it rolled over the side and onto the road, “the IPCA report said.

The officer crawled to the edge of the road and managed to get into a water-filled ditch.

The police fired at Ineson’s vehicle, which then stopped.

Then more officers arrived, including a dog handler.

No movement was seen from Ineson’s car and a passing man told police that Ineson was dead.

Officers waited 18 minutes after the shooting to approach the car. Ineson could be seen slumped over the wheel.

Police approached the car and stopped repeatedly to call Ineson out.

When they got to the driver’s door, they found Ineson had no pulse and medical assistance would be useless as Darfield’s man was clearly dead.

An examination of the scene found that six bullets had struck the rear of Ineson’s car and a bullet fragment struck the upper left back, causing a fatal injury to the chest.

The boss says the police are ‘brave’

Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price said police officers acted bravely and the decision to shoot Ineson was not made lightly.

“Our intention is that every situation we attend can be resolved without incident to avoid damage and ensure the safety of everyone involved.”

Price said the incident demonstrated the “dynamic and complex” nature of some police situations.

“Our officers acted boldly and professionally in a fast-moving, high-risk situation where they only had a few seconds to make the decision to take action that could prevent a volatile situation from causing harm to others.”