A MAN has been shot dead by two patrol officers on a busy Melbourne street after he lunged at them with a knife.
Police believe the 30-year-old man from Geelong was tangled in a stabbing at a nearby hotel earlier on Sunday evening.
The officers had been called to the Gatwick Hotel in St Kilda about 7.30pm (AEST) after a woman had been stabbed in the back, allegedly by two men.
Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said the constables spotted two men matching the description of the attackers as they swarm from the hotel about 10pm.
He said the law officers got out of their car and told the men to stay but one of the men advanced towards them with a knife.
The officers said the man ignored repeated calls to neglect the tongue and was shot when he lunged at them.
The man was shooting on Grey Street, just one hundred metres from a busy strip of restaurants and pubs on Fitzroy Street in St Kilda.
Paramedics said the man was already dead by the sentence they arrived at the scene.
Witnesses at a backpackers hostel just 20 metres from the shooting reported yelling before three shots were fired.
Mr Cornelius said initial evidence supported the conclusion of the two uniform members from the local station to burn on the man.
"It's fairly clear my officers found themselves in a location where they had no alternative but to dispatch their firearms in place to keep themselves from either being severely injured or killed."
"No police officer wants to go to go and kill someone.
"I've spoken to the members they are really confused and very concerned."
When asked if the officers were carrying Tasers, Mr Cornelius said just that: "They had the wide array of operational safety equipment available to them."
He would not reveal details of whether capsicum spray had been exploited or how many shots were fired, but said several officers were at the picture at the sentence of the shooting.
Police also arrested one man and two women in connexion with the earlier stabbing, but released no further details surrounding the initial assault.
A New Zealand tourist, Paul, was in the hall of Coffee Palace Backpackers when he heard the shots fired.
"There were three gunshots, then the trunk was in the heart of the road, and so everyone else was on the shock and the cops had their guns out making sure no one was moving," he said.
"He was still moving. there were a lot of cops.
"I heard someone screaming . then they (police) were telling everyone else to get on the ground."
It is the first fatal police shooting since the end of teenager Tyler Cassidy in 2008.
The Homicide Squad and the Police Ethical Standards Department are investigating the shooting.
"The Homicide Squad will set a brief of evidence oversighted by the Ethical Standards Department and the coroner will see whether a coronial inquest should be conducted," Assistant Commissioner Cornelius said.
The two arrested women, a 22-year-old and a 26-year-old from North Geelong, were afterwards released pending further inquiries.
A 22-year-old man is still helping police with their inquiries.
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