A man who was shot by police at a northern Sydney shopping centre has been found not guilty of intimidating and threatening an officer with a knife due to mental illness.
Jerry Sourian, 23, was on a one-hour leave from Hornsby Hospital's psychiatric unit with his family when he ran away in June last year.
Video footage played in the Downing Centre District Court today showed him wielding a knife as he walked around the busy outdoor market area near the Westfield Shopping Centre at Hornsby.
Sourian could be seen looking dazed and confused as he wandered around.
The court heard that concerned people contacted police who later arrived.
He refused police demands to put down the knife and the CCTV shows him lunging towards Senior Constable Kate Gough with the knife before he was shot.
Four other bystanders were also injured by bullets and fragments during the incident.
The court found the accused had a history of paranoid schizophrenia with the crown prosecutor saying he was "suffering from a disease of the mind and did not know what he was doing" at the time.
Sourian remains on bail in the care of Macquarie Hospital's mental health unit.
He will face court again next month to determine whether he will remain in treatment or be released into the care of his family.
