Dane Squires: Police cleared of wrongdoing after fatally shooting Padbury man who charged at them with knife

Police have been cleared of wrongdoing after fatally shooting a man who was naked, covered in blood and holding a knife when he charged at them after shouting threats. Dane Lindon Squires was aged 35 in September 2022 when he died in the driveway of the Padbury home he shared with Adrian Zalovic, who he had known for about five months. Mr Squires was a fly-in fly-out worker in the coal mining industry, and Mr Zalovic described him as a courteous and polite person. His mother, however, said that when he worked FIFO, he used methylamphetamine and his behaviour began to change for the worse. The month before the shooting, was taken by his housemate to Joondalup Health Campus after consuming meth and GHB. Mr Squires denied suicidal or self-harm ideation, but disclosed that he had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety. He was deeply affected by his father’s death in February 2019. That shocking night, Mr Squires attacked a friend who was staying at the home temporarily, punching him to the head repeatedly and accusing him of “stealing his girlfriend”, although he did not have one. Mr Zalovic, disturbed by Mr Squires’ behaviour, packed some belongings to stay the night at his girlfriend’s place. He reported Mr Squires having a scary look in his eyes when he twice asked if his friend was dead despite being told he had left to get medical help. After seeing Mr Squires naked, covered with blood and holding knives, Mr Zalovic fled the property and called triple-zero. When police arrived, he accompanied them to speak with Mr Squires in a bid to deescalate the situation. But after Mr Zalovic called out and took a few steps into the property, Mr Squires emerged and shouted “I’m going to f...ing kill everyone”. The housemate once again fled. Mr Squires then ran past the other attending officer, Sergeant Darren Mackellar, and rushed at Snr Const Van Der Munnik, who had drawn his pistol. The officer called out “Dane don’t”, but Mr Squires continued rushing towards him, holding the knife out “in an aggressive manner” while the officer retreated backwards. Sgt Mackellar tried unsuccessfully to deploy his Taser and Officer Van Der Munnik fired his gun twice, striking Mr Squires once in the chest, while the other shot missed. Mr Squires collapsed and paramedics, who were already at the scene, immediately rushed to help. He could not be revived. Coroner Michael Jenkin concluded that Officer Van Der Munnik’s use of his pistol was reasonable and justified, as he had reasonable grounds to believe there was “an imminent risk of grievous bodily harm or death”. That probably would have happened if Mr Squires hadn’t been shot, Mr Jenkin said in his findings handed down on Friday. “It seems likely that he was experiencing some sort of drug-induced psychosis, related to the methylamphetamine he had consumed earlier and was not in possession of his faculties,” the coroner said. Mr Squires was on bail after allegedly attacking police in Northbridge in February that year and was very concerned he would be sent to jail. He was accused of throwing a police bicycle at three officers from behind then kicking another officer in the head as he was being placed into a cop car. Lifeline 13 11 14 Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636 National Alcohol and Other Drugs Hotline: 1800 250 015