The policeman killed in the line of duty in regional South Australia overnight has been named as Brevet Sergeant Jason Doig, a “highly respected” and experienced officer whose death has devastated the force.
Key points:
- An officer was shot dead at the scene, police have said
- The alleged suspect has life-threatening injuries after he was shot by police
- A second officer received gunshot wounds, police have said
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said Sergeant Doig was shot and killed by a 26-year-old man at a property in Senior, near the Victorian border, in South Australia’s upper south-east.
Sergeant Doig, 53, was the officer in charge of the Lucindale Police Station, about 140 kilometres south of the crime scene, and was one of three officers to attend the property about 11:20pm.
The suspect was shot by police and is currently in hospital with life-threatening injuries, while one of the two other officers also sustained gunshot wounds.
“This is a devastating day for South Australia Police,” SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said.
“It’s with a great deal of sadness that I have to report in the early hours of this morning, a South Australian police officer was tragically killed in the line of duty.
“This is an incredibly tragic incident for the South Australia Police and I can only imagine what the family of Jason are feeling.”
Commissioner Stevens described Sergeant Doig as an experienced officer who was “highly respected by his peers”.
He said police were at the property to investigate a report of “the use of a firearm involving an animal”, but there was nothing to suggest “that it was a high-risk incident they were attending”.
Another police officer — Sergeant Michael Hutchinson — was also shot. His injuries are not life-threatening.
A third officer – Constable Rebekah Cass – also attended the property and was not injured.
“The two officers, Michael Hutchinson and Rebekah Cass, both provided assistance to Jason and the 26-year-old man at the scene prior to other help arriving,” Commissioner Stevens said.
“For those two officers to act in the way they did in such difficult circumstances speaks volumes for their courage and their commitment to their duty and their colleagues.
“We’re all hoping that Michael recovers quickly from his injuries.”
A Commissioner’s Inquiry will be conducted into the incident.
“The full circumstances of their attendance will be part of a commissioner’s inquiry, and we also have Major Crime and Forensic Response up here at the moment at the scene,” Commissioner Stevens said.
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The commissioner said Sergeant Doig, who joined the force in 1989, had family in Daylesford and Warrnambool in Victoria, and that his death would impact the broader police community.
“No-one is left untouched by this tragic incident. There wouldn’t be one single police officer today who wouldn’t be thinking about the sacrifice that Jason has made,” he said.
The suspect was treated at the scene and has been flown to Adelaide where he remains under police guard.
In a statement, the family of the alleged shooter expressed its condolences to the loved ones of Sergeant Doig.
“As a family, our hearts are broken by the incidents that occurred overnight,” the Stimson family said.
“We would like to extend our condolences to the family of Brevet Sergeant Doig and we are thinking of them during this difficult time.
“For now, our thoughts remain with Sergeant Hutchinson and his family while he recovers from his injuries.
“Our thoughts are also with the South-East community who will all be affected by this tragedy.”
While police released the statement on the Stimson family’s behalf, they said it was prepared by the family without any advice or involvement from SAPOL.
Senior is a small locality about 15 kilometres north of Bordertown and about 270km south-east of Adelaide.
Major Crime detectives, as well as members of the Forensic Response and Internal Investigation sections, have headed to the property, which is on Senior Road at Senior.
‘Deepest sympathies’ for officers’ families
Tributes have flowed for the slain officer, including from local federal MP Tony Pasin.
Mr Pasin said he would lay a wreath at the police officers’ Wall of Remembrance at the Mount Gambier police station later this morning.
“I just want to extend my deepest sympathies to the families of those involved but extend that support to the broader South Australian police community [and] our first responders otherwise,” he said.
“I’m sitting here reflecting about the fact that people should obviously be entitled to go to work and come home, but when it comes to first responders and police in particular, they’re expected to attend dangerous situations.”
Mr Pasin said he had spoken to federal opposition leader Peter Dutton, who this morning expressed his sympathies to the local community.
“A person has died and a family have lost a loved one,” Mr Dutton told Channel Nine’s Today program.
“The community should stop and pause again to say thank you to our police officers for the work they do.”
Former STAR Group police officer Derrick McManus, who was shot 14 times during a siege at Nuriootpa, said the local community would be “devastated”.
“All the country communities feel like they are isolated and they are safe places to live and essentially they are, but when something like this happens, the ramifications are massive,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
“This is the sort of thing that can happen each and every time we go to a door.
“No police officers want to put their lives in danger, but we know we do, and it’s something that we do … to protect the public, and sometimes that does go wrong.”
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