Cairns man allegedly on a three-hour rampage brandishing a machete is accused of taunting cops before being gunned down

Dramatic footage has emerged showing a man allegedly making off in a stolen police car before being shot during a confrontation with police in far north Queensland.

Police were called to an incident in Westcourt, Cairns, involving a woman in distress, at around 5.30am on Wednesday when they were approached by a 21-year-old man.

Witnesses saw the man, who is known to police, taunting police as he used a metal pole and a machete to smash police cars before stealing one.

Footage taken by a resident and shared on social media showed the 21-year-old driving at high speed along Newell Street in the marked police vehicle.

The man, who is now recovering in hospital, can also be seen with his arm out the driver’s side window as police look on.

The vehicle was observed ignoring road rules and driving dangerously along Mulgrave Road, leading to a chase into the nearby suburb of Woree.

Police units were ordered to contain the car and were alerted to a multi-vehicle crash outside the Woree IGA at 8.15am.

Officers engaged with the man who was allegedly wielding a steel pole and a machete outside the convenience store on the corner of Sondrio and Torino streets.

Employees from Cairns Vinyl and Canvas Kashia Vue watched the incident unfold as police surrounded the young man.

“We saw an officer running up the road and then all these other police cars surrounded him and an Indigenous man left and he (allegedly) started harassing officers with weapons,” Vue told police. Courier mail.

“From what I could see, he (allegedly) had a metal pole and a machete and he was throwing stuff around and vandalizing police cars.”

Vue claimed that police were reluctant to taser the young man because he had ‘doused himself with fuel’.

‘The officers all pulled back, they were very careful because he doused himself with fuel. That’s why they didn’t taser him because that would have set him on fire,” he said.

The man was reportedly wielding a steel pole and a machete when he was boxed in by police (pictured)

Police shot the man after he crashed the suspected stolen police car outside IGA in Woree, Cairns (pictured)

At a press conference on Wednesday, Far North Region crime co-ordinator Detective Mick Searle declined to comment on whether the man had poured petrol on himself, but confirmed he had been shot by police.

“At this point police intercepted that vehicle and another collision occurred between a male and police which resulted in that male individual being shot by a police officer,” Mr Searle said.

“This is the last thing this police officer thought he would have to do today when he arrived at work, and it is the last thing any police officer wants to do as part of his duties.

“It will be painful for him, as it is for every human being… it is a traumatic incident.”

Mr Searle did not comment on the number of times the man was shot, claiming these details would be used as part of the investigation by the Ethical Standards Unit.

Interim Commissioner Steve Gollschewski supported officers in making the right decision under intense pressure, while hoping the 21-year-old makes a “full recovery.”

“This just highlights the dangers of frontline policing and the choices our officers have to make every day, and I support them 100 percent in doing their jobs professionally,” he said.

‘We do everything we can to ensure that they are properly trained for this and supported.

‘I am confident that the organization will handle this very professionally. Not only by responding initially, but also how we investigate it properly afterwards.’

The 21-year-old was taken to Cairns Hospital where he is now in a stable condition and conscious.

He has yet to be charged and is currently assisting police with their injuries.