Overview
- The 35-year-old man, taken to the Behavioural Assessment Unit on Wednesday under a psychiatric order, revealed a hidden knife that sent staff into a secure room.
- Officers had earlier seized one knife during a pat-down, but police said a second was hidden where a pat-down would not reach and a strip-search was not appropriate for a mental-health transfer.
- About eight workers locked themselves in a glassed staff station for roughly three hours until AFP negotiators used a flashbang to disorient the man and disarm him, and police said his injuries were not serious.
- ACT Health and police have begun a joint review that will examine the length of negotiations, search practices, and the design of the staff station.
- Staff and unions had warned that the BAU’s staff room had only one exit and that violence was rising, and Canberra Health Services said architects were already exploring a second door before the incident.