The New South Wales coroner has urged police improve their arrest protocols after the fatal shooting of a Gomeroi man in 2021.
Stanley Leonard Russell was shot dead in his aunt's home by police executing an arrest warrant, with the Aboriginal Legal Service of NSW describing his death as "tragic" and "avoidable".
ALS Coronial Advocate Hannah Donaldson told the National Indigenous Times: "Stanley died on the floor of his aunt's house, after being shot multiple times by police. He died in pain and fear. He was 45 years old."
"Stanley did not have to die this way. If police had acted differently, he might be alive today," she said.
The inquest heard that Mr Russell confronted the officers with an axe and knife immediately before two constables shot him.
Mr Russell had an intellectual disability as well as other mental disorders, including depression and substance dependency which became worse after his brother's suicide in prison in 1999.
Stanley Russell's partner, Vicky Fernando, said that whilst they were grateful the coroner had delivered recommendations to improve police protocols, it was hard to see the two police officers involved still employed by NSW police.
"We would like to thank the coroner for making the recommendation for Stanley's Protocol," Ms Fernando told the National Indigenous Times.
"But police didn't follow their own protocols and policies when they went to arrest Stanley, so we will have to wait and see whether this new protocol makes any difference."
Coroner Carmel Forbes found the constables who shot Mr Russell reasonably perceived that their lives were at risk.
But Ms Forbes also found that that the four officers who attended the home did so "without any co-ordinated plan to deal with the possible risk they would face".
They were also unaware that Mr Russell was intellectually disabled, nor considered the trauma or fear he may have towards the police as an Aboriginal man.
"We will never know... what was going on in Mr Russell's head at this time," Ms Forbes said.
"He is likely to have felt cornered and agitated at the prospect of going back into custody."
George Newhouse, chief executive and principal solicitor of the National Justice Project, said police should not be the first responders to "mental health crises".
"They [police] are trained to use guns and tasers for situations, they are not there to provide medical care or support," he said.
Ms Forbes recommended the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service and the NSW Police develop a joint protocol for executing warrants and encouraging First Nations defendants to hand themselves in to the police.
She also stated there should be an Aboriginal liaison officer in all communities with a high proportion of First Nations people, and police should undertake cultural training to better help those communities.
"Hopefully, the recommendations will help to provide alternatives to confrontational arrests," Ms Forbes said.
Mr Newhouse said such reforms are vital.
"There is a desperate need for police to use alternative strategies and deescalate, rather than the traditional tactical responses that can lead to injury or even death."
Stanley Russell was one of more than 540 Aboriginal people to die in police custody since the conclusion of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Ms Donaldson said reforms were needed to break this pattern.
"It's up to all of us to say: no more. No one should die this way: alone, in pain and fear, surrounded by chaos and confusion. No family should have to experience the loss of a loved one in these circumstances."
