The 55-year-old man who was shot by police in Werribee was a former Victoria Police officer who was retired from service earlier this year, Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill has confirmed.
Police were called to the man's home in Werribee about 10:00pm Monday to respond to a reported family violence-related assault.
Two women at the home, a 59-year-old and a woman believed to be their daughter, met police outside the home and told them the man inside was behaving in a "threatening manner", Assistant Commissioner Hill said.
Officers from the Critical Incident Response Team attempted to negotiate with the 55-year-old but the man allegedly left the house armed with a kitchen knife and advanced on police.
Police tried to use a taser and beanbag rounds to subdue the man, but he continued to advance on officers, police said.
"An officer discharged their firearm, shooting the man in the lower body," police said in a statement.
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill said body-worn camera footage showed officers asking the man to drop the knife and stop advancing before he was shot.
"We have a very clear understanding and appreciation of what the members were confronted with as they attended that address in terms of trying to negotiate with that male, who by all accounts, was suffering from a mental health episode," he said in a press conference today.
The Assistant Commissioner said police had been called to the Werribee address for family violence matters before.
The 55-year-old was a former uniformed officer in Melbourne who had worked for Victoria Police for 20 years, the Assistant Commissioner said.
He was discharged from the organisation in an ill-health retirement earlier this year and police understood he was suffering from "mental health challenges", the Assistant Commissioner said.
"We see on a far too regular basis our police members who do suffer as a consequence of what they're confronting in a contemporary or modern policing environment," he said.
"Our members are certainly challenged every day of the week and every hour of the day dealing with some of most confronting things any individual would be impacted by."
Assistant Commissioner Hill said Victoria Police offered support and tried to help officers cope, "but unfortunately some members are impacted to a point that they can no longer serve with us".
The man has had surgery and is in intensive care recovering from a stomach wound, Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill said.
Detectives from the Armed Crime Squad will investigate the incident under the auspices of the Professional Standards Command.
