A father of four will undergo surgery after being shot twice by a police officer he allegedly lunged at with a large metal sharpening file during a "horrible incident" at a house in Brisbane's south.
The 43-year-old's wife and four sons - seven, nine, 12 and 14 - were at home during the confrontation on a driveway at Liquidambar Place, Stretton, on Sunday night.
Detective Superintendent Andrew Massingham said there had been "a rapidly evolving domestic situation" in the lead-up to the shooting.
The woman had locked her husband in the garage, with one of the carport doors open, and some of their sons were hiding in bushes when police arrived.
Det Supt Massingham says the father then sprinted down the driveway armed with a sharpening file towards a senior constable.
The officer shot the man in the hip but he allegedly lunged at the officer who shot him in the shoulder before the man threw the file at him.
"The only option the police were left with was lethal use of force," Det Supt Massingham told reporters on Monday.
"At the time that they saw an armed man, and approaching very rapidly down a hilly driveway, that is their thought process."
The man is in a serious but stable condition in Princess Alexandra Hospital and due to undergo surgery later on Monday.
The wife and sons are staying elsewhere while the force's Ethical Standards Command investigates the shooting.
"This is indeed a tragedy for everybody involved the family, the neighbours and of course our responding police," he said.
The family has no domestic violence or mental health history and detectives are still trying to find out what triggered the incident.
When asked if police could have used a taser or fired at his legs, Det Supt Massingham said that may not have stopped the man who had been "highly motivated to cause injury to one of our officers".
"It still required the application of a second shot and then he was still able to throw the weapon at us," he said.
"So in those circumstances, it would have been a situation where the officer, when confronted with that, was using lethal force to stop the threat and not necessarily aim at any particular part of the body."
It was also unfortunate the shooting had occurred near other homes and some neighbours witnessed the event.
"What's really important today is that we provide support for their family, which we are doing, and also for the neighbours that heard and witnessed this horrible incident," Det Supt Massingham added.
The shooting comes after police went to a home in Bellagio Crescent, Coomera, on the Gold Coast to conduct a welfare check at about 3.30pm on Sunday.
A 29-year-old man armed with a knife threatened police.
He was asked to put down the knife several times before rushing at officers and was shot, police said.
He was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition and was expected to undergo surgery.
The incident is also being investigated by the Ethical Standards Command.
