Reports from Australia suggest that the New Zealander killed two days ago by a Sydney police officer had a mental illness.
David Petersen was killed with a single shot to the chest after a short confrontation, and according to local media, a search of the 45-year-old's Sydney home uncovered anti-psychotic medication.
Investigators have also been told he sometimes used the drug ice and recently lost his job at a gas plant in Queensland – all of which will be central to the investigation.
A recent study by the Australian Institute of Criminology found four of every ten criminal offenders are mentally ill.
A professor from the Brain and Mind Centre in Sydney says police need to be as well trained in mental health problems and the handling of acute mental health problems, as they are in self-defence.
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