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Officer suspended over violent arrest, as police shooting witnessed live on air

A passing motorist filmed the arrest on Sunday.

A passing motorist filmed the arrest on Sunday.

A Victorian police officer filmed appearing to kick a man in the head during an arrest in Melbourne has been suspended.

The senior constable was suspended after dramatic footage shared on social media showed him appearing to kick Timothy Atkins’ head while he was on the ground in Epping, a northern suburb of Melbourne on Sunday.

In the vision, an officer appears to kick down on Mr Atkins’ head before a group of police pin him down.

“Am I witnessing this? What the f–k,” a witness yells out his car window.

“You’ve got his head.”

Video also showed a police car allegedly hitting Mr Atkins as he walked in front of it before being arrested.

After being subdued with pepper spray, an officer appears to repeatedly kick the suspect on the ground.

The 32-year-old has bipolar disorder and is in an induced coma following the incident.

His father, Glenn Atkins, has called for the officer who kicked his son’s head to be sacked.

He said his son had gone to the Northern Hospital Epping for treatment before running outside to meet a work colleague, which prompted hospital staff to call the police.

“He was stomped on or kicked by the police,” he told 3AW on Monday.

“The police had no right to do what they did.”

Mr Atkins is calling on Victoria Police to sack the officer who allegedly kicked his son.

“It’s disgusting,” he said.

“This bloke needs to be accountable. He needs to lose his job.

“Policemen like that should not be in the job.”

Victoria Police’s internal ethics body is investigating the incident.

The force initially said the 32-year-old, of no fixed address, had been aggressive and had damaged a police vehicle as he attempted to avoid arrest.

In a second statement on Tuesday, it said the senior constable from the Critical Incident Response Team had been suspended the previous evening.

“A Senior Constable from the Critical Incident Response Team was last night suspended following his involvement in a protracted incident which commenced at the Northern Hospital at Epping on Sunday 13 September” the spokesperson said.

Dramatic police shooting unfolds live on Melbourne radio

Meanwhile, an unrelated police shooting has unfolded in Melbourne’s outer east on Tuesday morning.

A Lilydale resident out on a morning walk, identified as Pauline, rang Melbourne radio station 3AW and spoke to Neil Mitchell as an incident unfolded in front of her in the Lilydale Market carpark.

She told Mitchell she could see a man weilding a knife with several police with “guns drawn” walking towards him, demanding he drop his weapon.

He walked towards a petrol station before making his way to a nearby park.

Listen to the eight-minute radio interview here:

In the audio played live on air, listeners can hear three to four gunshots, before an ambulance arrived on scene and the area was cordoned off.

“He wasn’t in an agitated state … I don’t know what he did that caused them to actually let loose with gunshots,” Pauline told 3AW.

“It looks like they’ve taken him down.”

 

The man was shot in the upper body and received medical treatment at the scene, 3AW reports.

-with agencies

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636

 

 

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