Nowra shooting: Horror moment when police shoot dead patient, 34, outside medical clinic after pointing gun at doctor

Police fired several shots, killing a man who pointed a gun at a doctor at a medical center before confronting officers on the street outside.

Video captured from across the street by terrified bystanders showed the moment officers opened fire, with a stunned woman behind the camera heard saying: “They shot him.”

At least four people who were at the medical center on Junction Street in Nowra when the incident unfolded around 1pm on Wednesday were able to escape and raise the alarm.

Southern Region Commander Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter said the 34-year-old man had been talking to the doctor when he became agitated.

“During discussions with the doctor the man became very agitated and said many alarming things,” said Deputy Commissioner Cotter.

“The conversation was agitated, the conversation was confrontational and then the man pulled out a gun.”

Witnesses said people ran when heavily armed police arrived and cordoned off the area.

“The SWAT team came in and everyone was released [from the street]shop owner Hollie Spence told the ABC.

“And then within probably 20 minutes we heard a lot of gunshots at the same time.

“Six or more gunshots very quickly,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Police responded to reports of a firearm being drawn at a medical center in Nowra on Tuesday afternoon. Image: Facebook

Police shot the 34-year-old man, who could not be revived by paramedics. Image: Facebook

Police negotiated with the 34-year-old man for nearly two hours before the man left the clinic and confronted officers.

“The man pulled out the gun and waved it at the police,” Deputy Chief Cotter said.

Video taken across the street by terrified bystanders showed the moment officers opened fire, with a stunned woman behind the camera heard saying: ‘They shot him’

“He was hit multiple times and remained at the scene where tragically he was pronounced dead a short time later suffering from those gunshot wounds.”

Deputy Commissioner Cotter said it was a ‘tragic’ situation for the officers involved and the man’s family.

“They did their very best to negotiate with him,” Deputy Commissioner Cotter said.

“They responded today in absolute good faith to an alarm of a man with a gun in an operating room, holding people hostage, holding people captive and waving that gun.”

He said the police on the scene were “experienced” officers, most of whom had been on the force for years and had undergone tactical training.

Assistant Chief Cotter told four people in the doctor’s office at the time the man walked in and brandished the gun.

‘The people were able to escape; three of them almost immediately. the fourth a short time later,” he said.

The man emerged from the building about 90 minutes later when he confronted officers, police said. The police were photographed at the scene

It is understood the man was known to the clinic and police, but had no ‘significant criminal history’.

“He is known to the police, but generally that is the result of medical episodes and, very clearly and more recently, psychological medical episodes, which required our intervention,” Deputy Commissioner Cotter said.

Map locating Nowra on the NSW south coast.

The use of force during the incident will be independently assessed and a team from the State Crime Command Homicide Command will investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Assistant Commissioner Cotter said the investigation will largely focus on how the man was able to obtain the firearm and what exactly led to the tense confrontation.