The devastated family of a Gomeroi man who was shot to death by NSW police on Tuesday has disputed the version of events put forward by officers and the media.
Stanley Russell was staying with his Aunt in the Sydney suburb of Seven Hills when police arrived to serve a warrant on Tuesday morning.
Authorities allege he was armed with weapons, and a 'physical confrontation' occurred before he was shot.
His uncle Don Craigie is disappointed that allegations have been reported as facts.
"For the media reporting about an axe and a knife, I would question: Have they seen the police vision on their cameras?" he told NITV News.
"What we are asking for is truthful reporting. Don't sensationalise something."
"The Aunt told me that there was no axe in her house."
"The police did not produce a warrant. They walked immediately inside the home. They asked for Stanley, she said he... wasn't there. He coughed and started walking down the stairs," Mr Craigie said.
Don Craigie rebuked the media for "sensationalist" reporting. Source: NITV
"The police ordered his Aunt out of the house, closed the door. The next thing she heard was shots. She tried to get back inside the house. They would not allow her."
Police stated they performed CPR on Mr Russell but he could not be revived.
A second tragedy
Tragically, it's not the first time the family have dealt with such a traumatic incident. Stanley's older brother Eddie Russell died in Long Bay Prison in December 1999.
For Stanley's mother, Helen Russell, the grief is overwhelming.
"They didn't have to shoot him," she told NITV News.
"They could've used a taser on him or capsicum spray."
Ms Russell said both her sons, her only children, had suffered at the hands of institutional negligence.
“Stanley’s older brother Edward died... because the NSW prison system failed completely in its duty of care to Edward,” she said.
“We have already been to hell and back during the investigation into Edward’s very avoidable death in custody.
Stanley Russell (L), Helen and Edward Russell Sr, and Edward Russell Jr (bottom right). Source: Supplied
“Now we have to go through the same pain and trauma all over again. Given what we know currently about how Stanley died, we have questions about whether police failed in their duty of care to him too."
'Astounding' sequence of events before shooting
Dr Roderic Pitty helped the Russells after Eddie died, organising legal representation for the family at the coronial inquest.
However, he first met them in 1993, when he worked on the NSW Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee.
"They had an interest in supporting Aboriginal children, and trying to keep them out of the criminal justice system," he told NITV News.
"It's terribly sad that this is two parents who have struggled for decades to try to help Aboriginal youth come out of the clutches of the criminal justice system, and they've lost their two biological sons to that system now."
Dr Pitty says there are significant questions to be answered about the sequence of events on the day of Mr Russell's death, and said the apparent lack of video footage from body cams was a failure of process.
"It's astounding that within a short time, police would believe that they had to resort to shooting a man in the chest. That's a complete failure of their preparations and their conduct in the house.
"If (recordings) don't exist, there are serious questions of why did that not occur? Because that would make it much easier for investigation for a coronial investigation to find out how Stanley Russell was killed."
Police at the scene of Stanley Russell's shooting. Source: AAP: Mick Tsikas
A good person
Mr Russell, a father and grandfather, has been remembered as "a good person" by his partner of 29 years, Mavis Fernando.
"He loves his family," she told NITV News, describing how he turned his life around after troubles with the criminal justice system.
"He changed a lot, and became very supportive."
Mr Russell had four grandchildren, the youngest of whom, a one month old, "he never got to meet".
As the family turns to legal representation ahead of a pending coronial inquest into Stanley's death, Mr Craigie said any wrongdoing by the police had to be met with justice.
"If this turns out to be an unlawful killing, those police officers, should be, and we certainly hope, will be charged... with murder."
