‘Respected' Constable Keith Anthony Smith killed in shooting incident on regional Tasmania property
Tasmania Police has confirmed the identity of the police officer killed during a shooting in Tasmania's north.
Constable Keith Anthony Smith, 57, an officer for 25 years at Tasmania Police, was executing a court-ordered warrant on a regional property in North Motton with another officer on Monday.
Constable Smith was shot and killed at the property – the first fatal police shooting since 1999.
Tasmania Police Commissioner Donna Adams identified the fallen officer with permission from his family.
She said the police veteran had previously worked in the north and northwest region of the state before moving to the Ulverstone area about five years ago.
'Keith was a respected and committed officer, and his loss will be deeply felt across our policing family and the wider community,' she said.
'My heart goes out to Keith's wife and family. We will be supporting them in every way we can during this incredibly difficult time.'
A 46-year-old North Motton man has been arrested and has been taken to Launceston General Hospital for treatment.
No charges have been laid.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
33 minutes ago
- ABC News
Queensland Police confirm human remains found in bushland are those of missing teenager Pheobe Bishop
Police have confirmed human remains found almost two weeks ago are those of missing Queensland teenager Pheobe Bishop. The 17-year-old from the Wide Bay area was last seen on May 15 when she failed to board a flight from Bundaberg airport. Her housemates, James Wood and Tanika Bromley, have since been charged with one count each of murder, and two counts each of interfering with a corpse. Police found human remains on Friday, June 6 in the Good Night Scrub National Park area near Gin Gin. At the time, police had been unable to formally identify them but said they were in contact with Pheobe's family. In a statement released on Tuesday, Queensland Police confirmed the remains belonged to the missing teenager. "Investigations into locating more items of interest in relation to this matter remain ongoing," it said. Speaking on Tuesday, Bundaberg mayor Helen Blackburn said the formal identification was a "relief". "We've been waiting to have the confirmation that it was Pheobe that was found ... to have this now confirmed just means that we can move forward together," she said. At the time of her disappearance in mid-May, Pheobe had been living in the town of Gin Gin with her housemates. Police allege all three were in the car on the way to the airport, but the 17-year-old never made it into the terminal or onto the plane she was due to catch to Western Australia. Her disappearance was declared suspicious on May 21 and the car and the house she had been living in were identified as crime scenes. On May 23, over a week after she disappeared, police started searching Good Night Scrub National Park, an hour south-west of Bundaberg. Cadaver dogs, water police, drones and State Emergency Service personnel combed through thick scrub and items of interest were collected for forensic examination. That "physical" search was suspended after five days on June 4. Mr Wood and Ms Bromley were charged with her murder the next day, on Thursday, June 5. At the time, Pheobe's mother Kylie Johnson posted to Facebook "begging anyone that knows anything to come forward". The next morning, Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield said police expected to find Pheobe's body in the greater Gin Gin area. Detective Inspector Mansfield said police would allege her body "was moved more than once". Suspected remains were found on the Friday afternoon, with police saying they hoped to bring "closure" to Pheobe's family. Mr Wood and Ms Bromley's matters are due back in court in August.
News.com.au
44 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘Time to grieve': Pheobe Bishop's family confirms remains found in bushland are hers
The body discovered in rugged bushland earlier this month has been formally identified as missing teen Pheobe Bishop, bringing an end to a month-long search that has gripped the nation. In a statement to NewsMail on Tuesday, the Bishop family said police officers had confirmed to them that the remains were Pheobe's. 'Our family would like to thank everyone involved, from information reported to searching and everyone that has sent heartwarming messages,' the statement read. 'We just would also like to have time to process and grieve this new information as a family and ask for privacy at this time.' The 17-year-old was last seen on May 15, on her way to Bundaberg Airport to board a flight to visit her boyfriend in Western Australia. However, investigators later confirmed she never entered the terminal. She did not board the flight and was not captured on CCTV inside the airport. Police now allege she was murdered shortly after she was last seen, and that her body was moved multiple times before it was discovered near Good Night Scrub National Park on June 6. James Wood, 34, and Tanika Bromley, 33, were arrested on June 5 and charged with murder and interfering with a corpse. The pair remain in custody and are due to reappear in court in August. Neither has entered pleas to the charges. The home where Pheobe had been living with the accused was found in squalid condition, with evidence of severe animal neglect and structural damage. While the search for Pheobe is now over, the police investigation into her death continues.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Alessandro Cavuoto found guilty of murdering housemate by setting him on fire
A man has been found guilty of murdering his housemate by setting him on fire at their home in Adelaide's west in 2021. Warning: This story contains content which some readers may find distressing. Alessandro Giovanni Cavuoto was found guilty of the murder of 31-year-old Todd Bradmore in South Australia's Supreme Court on Tuesday. The 36-year-old was also found not guilty of two aggravated counts of creating likelihood of serious harm in relation to two people who were present at the home at the time of the incident. The trial previously heard Mr Bradmore suffered burns to 80 per cent of his body when Cavuoto doused him with "two-stroke fuel" just after 3:30am on March 17, 2021, at their Woodville West home. He was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries on March 19, 2021. Outside court, Mr Bradmore's father Ian Bradmore said the verdict was a "relief". "He was always going to be guilty with the horrific way he murdered my son, burning him alive is something that is unimaginable," he said. "He took advantage of Todd's vulnerability … took full advantage of him and decided to set him alight. "He's nothing short of a mongrel, he deserves where he is." In her opening statement to the court last year, then-prosecutor Lisa Dunlop SC said there was a "conflict" between the pair in the lead-up to the murder, and that Cavuoto was "angry" when he approached Mr Bradmore in the early hours of March 17. "On the prosecution case, when the accused walked into that room with the two-stroke fuel in his hand and a lighter in his other hand, he was angry," she said. Ms Dunlop said there had been a power outage at the home on that evening, and Mr Bradmore was holding a candle, and was surrounded by candles, when Cavuoto approached him. "A candle ignited the vapours and Mr Bradmore caught fire immediately," she said. "The accused, on the other hand, walked out the door in which he came, walked out the house, walked to his car, got in his car and drove away. "On the prosecution case, your Honour will hear, when he was found by police, there was not a mark on him." Ms Dunlop also told the court Cavuoto then went to a petrol station, where he saw his other housemate, whom he told "I just set Todd on fire". The court heard Cavuoto then fled the state and was arrested in New South Wales, following a car accident, and extradited back to Adelaide. Mr Bradmore said the death of his son was "inhumane" and compared it to "burning at the stake". "You just can't imagine what he went through … it's such a bad way to go," he said. Mr Bradmore said his son was "very kind" and would "give his heart to anybody". The matter will return court in August for a pre-sentence hearing where the court is expected to hear numerous victim impact statements. Cavuoto faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, with a non-parole to be determined at a later date.
