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A tactical officer who gunned down a knife-wielding mentally ill man after a nine-hour siege says he was left with no choice but to shoot.
Todd McKenzie, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was fatally shot after a nine-hour siege on the NSW mid-north coast in 2019 when police were called to a Taree property over concerns for his welfare.
Almost four years later, an inquest is hoping to uncover how the welfare check turned into a stand-off and ended with police killing a mentally ill man in his own home.
The policeman, known as Officer T5, told the court in Taree on Tuesday that his tactical team had spotted Mr McKenzie coming down his hallway while holding a knife above his head.
Officer T5 said he wasn't sure if Mr McKenzie fell before or after he fired his Taser but he "popped back up pretty well" and continued to the front door, where several officers were stationed.
He told the 40-year-old to drop his knife multiple times before another member of his team yelled "shoot him, shoot him" and he fired three shots.
Lawyer for Mr McKenzie's mother Peter Krisenthal said the policeman had fired the shots in quick succession, though Officer T5 claims he was assessing the threat between each shot.
He said Mr McKenzie was still walking towards officers after the first shot with his arms forward and knife in hand, so he continued to shoot until satisfied the man no longer posed a threat.
"It's not something we ever want to do, it's just a tool we have for our protection … (but) in the back of the mind it's there ready for us if we have to," he told the inquest.
"At the end of the day, he's armed with a knife. If he doesn't drop it, there's not much else I can do."
The court previously heard Mr McKenzie was suffering from a mental health episode that made him paranoid about people entering his home.
Law enforcement undertook hours of negotiation which eventually stagnated even though a negotiator believed he posed no threat to himself or police.
The inquest will continue on Wednesday.
