An officer who shot a man in his 70s was able to save his female colleague, who had been pinned to the ground as the man allegedly tried to stab her in the chest, the Queensland Police Union says.
New details have emerged about the incident at Woodridge on Sunday, which resulted in a sergeant shooting the 72-year-old Vietnam War veteran.
The man remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Officers were called to the property about 11:45am by members of the man's family, who had concerns for his mental health, police said at the scene.
He then allegedly began throwing large rocks at police when they arrived at the Station Road property.
Police union general secretary Mick Barnes said police did not know he was armed, and were caught off-guard when he spun around and brandished large knives as they tried to restrain him from behind.
"He has been swinging knives and grabbed one of the officers and they've fallen over," Mr Barnes told the ABC.
"He's kept swinging with the knives, and it's only been when he's been on an upwards swing and was going to swing back down that the other officer was able to shoot him."
Incident caught on body camera
Mr Barnes said his claims were backed up by footage from officers' body cameras, which is currently a key piece of evidence being examined by the Ethical Standards Command.
He said the man tried to repeatedly stab the female officer while on the ground, but the knife was unable to pierce the police vest she was wearing.
"The vest isn't a tactical vest at all. It's just a light mesh to carry things on. It looks like it may have been hitting a buckle," Mr Barnes said.
A sergeant nearby, who is a part-time police firearms instructor, then fired one shot into the man's right shoulder.
"They wouldn't have gone anywhere near him if they'd known he had knives," Mr Barnes said.
"It's so lucky we didn't have a dead officer," he said.
The Queensland Police Service said it was unable to comment while the matter was being investigated by the Ethical Standards Command.
On Sunday, Inspector Jim Plowman confirmed the incident was captured on body cameras worn by officers at the scene.
"The officer had no option other than to discharge his firearm," he said.
Police are yet to lay charges over the incident.
