One man has been shot dead and two policemen have been stabbed in Melbourne's outer south-east, in an incident involving a joint Victoria Police and Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism taskforce.
The two stabbed officers were from the Joint Counter Terrorism Team. One of the men was from Victoria Police while the other was an officer with the Australian Federal Police.
One of the stabbed officers was rushed to The Alfred in a critical condition with life-threatening injuries, while the other man was taken to nearby Dandenong Hospital in a less serious condition suffering stab wounds to the arms.
Onlookers at the scene – who did not want to be named – said the dead man had been shouting insults at Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the Australian government in general in the moments before he was shot.
The man was reportedly pulled over in the vicinity of the Endeavour Hills police station before lashing out at the two officers with a sharp instrument. He then ran towards the police station, and was shot. It is unknown whether either of the two officers who were stabbed, or a third officer, shot the man.
Police have set up a crime scene around the perimeter of the nearby Endeavour Hills shopping centre.
A crowd of about 50 onlookers had gathered at the scene around 10pm. A heavy police presence was at the scene, with around a dozen officers directing onlookers to leave.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said police were called to a location on Heatherton Road in Endeavour Hills around 7.30pm on Tuesday.
The spokeswoman said the incident occurred "very near to the police station".
She said the station was functioning as normal.
Shafi Miya, who works at the petrol station opposite the Endeavour Hills police station, said he heard a shot fired sometime between 7.30pm and 8pm.
He said police have taped off the police station and Heatherton Rd is closed in both directions.
Ambulance Victoria confirmed that paramedics attended the scene but would not provide further details.
with Alexandra Back, Patrick Begley
