A coroner says there will be more deaths like that of a young woman shot dead outside a Hungry Jack’s restaurant in 2015 if police don’t change the way they respond to people suffering from mental health crises.
Courtney Topic was just 22 when she was shot dead by police next to a busy intersection in Hoxton Park, western Sydney, after people had seen her walking with a knife and called 000.
Shocking footage of Topic’s final moments, filmed by a passer-by in a car, shows the 41 seconds between police arriving, Topic becoming agitated and starting to run with the knife, and then moving towards a police officer.
She was then shot in the chest and collapsed to the ground.
Deputy state coroner Liz Ryan, handing down her findings on Monday morning, found Topic was most likely experiencing a psychotic episode due to undiagnosed schizophrenia at the time of her death, and that she probably did not understand police when they yelled at her to drop the knife.
Ryan described the death as a profoundly sad tragedy that had changed many lives and said it raised broad issues about how police are trained to deal with people who have mental illnesses.
“Three years later her family can still scarcely believe their daughter died in this terrible way,” she said. “Their grief is still raw and will not be forgotten by those present at this inquest. The police officers involved in her death have been deeply affected by it.
“If changes are not made, there will be more deaths like Courtney’s. The court heard that in Australia, of the persons shot by police between 1989 and 2011 nearly 42% were suffering from a mental illness. There is no reason to believe these numbers will reduce over time.”
Ryan handed down 10 recommendations to the NSW Commissioner of Police, including that officers who are specially trained in mental health are the first responders to calls involving possible mental health crises, and that 000 operators are trained to recognise signs of mental health crises in reports from the public.
She also recommended changes to better integrate mental health into police training.
She found that Senior Constable Ethan Tesoriero, who fired the shot, and the other officers at the scene had followed procedure, but that they had made errors in terms of not appreciating the mental distress Topic was suffering.
“Although we do not know for certain what Courtney was intending to do, she was moving in the direction of the police officer who shot her and she was within two metres of him when he fired his pistol. He had reasons to believe his life was in danger,” Ryan said.
“But that cannot be all. Courtney’s death is emphatically not one where it can be said: ‘This couldn’t have been prevented.’”
A coroner has urged police to improve training & responses to people suffering mental health crises after 22yo Courtney Topic was shot dead in 2015. Her parents Leesa & Ronny hope her death won’t be in vain. https://t.co/uu6pTY6T7C
Outside court, Topic’s grieving parents Leesa and Ronny said they were “very happy” with Ryan's findings and hoped the recommendations meant their daughter's death would not be in vain.
“The [NSW Police] commissioner has agreed to look at some of the findings that have come through. We are very grateful for that and we hope that he's true to his word,” said Leesa Topic.
“Courtney isn't coming home, and we will live with that forever. But we don't want to see any other family go through this pain that we are living now and will take with us to our graves, whenever that may be.”
Leesa said they would visit Courtney's grave this afternoon, and asked that people remember her “beautiful daughter” as more than just a statistic.
“She's not a statistic — she's my beautiful girl who I just wanted to hold and hug, and I'll never be able to do that again. I don't know why, but that's the reality,” she said.
“I just don't want to see another mum, another dad, another sibling to have to go through this hell. We'll walk away today and we'll live this forever.”