- An armed robber was shot dead by police in Melbourne’s east on Sunday night
- Officers opened fire after man pointed sawed-off shotgun at bottle shop worker
- Witnesses said they saw a worker run from the shop ‘screaming for help’
- The homicide squad and the professional standards unit are investigating
Bottle shop workers ‘screamed for help’ before an armed robber was shot dead by police in Melbourne’s east, witnesses have revealed.
Police opened fire after the man, 48, pointed a sawed-off shotgun at Xueqiang ‘Sean’ Wang at his Park Orchards Cellars store at about 9pm on Sunday.
‘Someone is not going home tonight,’ said a witness who uploaded pictures of the scene to social media.
The witness said up to six shots were fired, while another revealed they heard a worker run from the shop ‘screaming for help’.
‘The shop owner’s son ran to my friend’s place – he was yelling ”help, help call police”,’ the witness told the Herald Sun.
A bottle shop attendant ‘screamed for help’ before an armed robber was shot dead by police in Melbourne’s east
Police opened fire after the man pointed a sawed-off shotgun at an employee at Park Orchards Cellars
Mr Wang said on Monday he was a ‘lucky man’ and thanked police, as well as his son Kevin.
‘I thank Victoria Police, I so thank them… My son is very good. He is a very good boy,’ he said.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Guenther said police shot the man in fear he would open fire on the innocent worker.
‘My understanding is that they’ve appeared at the bottle shop and they were in fear of the life of the attendant who was having a weapon pointed at him [so] they’ve discharged their firearm,’ he said.
The man died at the scene.
Victoria Police detectives were in the area investigating a number of armed hold-ups when they reportedly stumbled across the attempted robbery.
The homicide squad and the professional standards unit are investigating the incident.
‘Someone is not going home tonight,’ said a witness who uploaded pictures of the scene to social media