Tensions on the streets after rough sleeper killed by police

It was almost two years ago that Abdifatah Ahmed suddenly appeared at the front door of Africause in Footscray – dishevelled, hungry and visibly distressed.

“He kept saying he had nowhere to live,” Dr Berhan Ahmed recalls. “He was desperate.”

Ahmed gave him a kebab for lunch. Then he spent hours trying to secure crisis accommodation for the Somali refugee who had lived in Australia for years.

But Abdifatah Ahmed soon became fed up with the delays and all the bureaucracy. He left the centre and disappeared back onto the streets.

It is a story and sliding doors moment the senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne sees every day in his work as chief executive of Africause.

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The not-for-profit organisation provides crucial support to the African-Australian community in Melbourne, tackling a wide spectrum of social challenges, from homelessness to mental health and addiction.

Last Thursday, only metres away from where Ahmed first met Abdifatah Ahmed, the 35-year-old rough sleeper who had mental health problems was shot dead by two police officers after he allegedly lunged at them, wielding a knife.

“It has devastated us,” Ahmed says. “He needed mental health treatment, not bullets.”

Distressing footage of his death, which unfolded in front of people doing their last-minute Easter shopping, was captured on a smartphone by a witness.

It shows Abdifatah Ahmed lying motionless and in the middle of a pedestrian crossing in the heart of Footscray’s CBD just after 9pm.

Two police officers are seen walking slowly towards him with their guns drawn. An officer leans down to check on him as they wait for back-up.

What happened in the moments before the shots were fired will be scrutinised and picked apart in the months to come.

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An investigation by the Homicide Squad with oversight from Professional Standards Command is already under way, which will be independently reviewed for the coroner.

But calls continue to mount for another independent investigation into the death.

Police say there were confronted with an “extremely volatile and high-risk situation” and made a tactical decision to use their firearms in a “small matter of moments”.

“This was an incident that could [have] impacted the safety of a large number of people who were in the area on the night,” a police spokeswoman said.

But a question remains in Footscray: Why police did not deploy non-lethal force, like Tasers, before drawing their guns?

The Victorian government announced it would arm all frontline police officers with Tasers in 2021 as part of a $214 million, four-year program to boost the police’s tactical options and capabilities.

But the police union says delays in the government committing to fund the program, and challenges of retraining such a large workforce, meant some officers were yet to be trained and equipped with the shock device – including the two who shot Ahmed.

A witness, who spoke to The Age on the condition of anonymity, said he heard the police officers shouting and saw their flashlights flicker in the dark, before they ran towards Ahmed with guns drawn.

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“We thought there were Tasers so we were like, ‘OK, this guy’s going to get Tasered’,” he says.

“There was not much time between them shouting and then the guns went off.”

He was most shocked by how quickly it all happened.

“I just heard: ‘bang, bang, bang.’ I don’t know how many shots, but it was definitely multiple,” he says. “People were crying and screaming.”

The man says he heard somebody yell out: “Why did you kill him?”

“The police responded he had a knife,” he says.

“I believe it was a lifeless body before paramedics arrived. There were no signs of life.”

In Berhan Ahmed’s mind, this was a tragedy years in the making.

“To be honest, I am worried about many of these people in Footscray with mental health and addiction issues,” he says.

“We see it every day. They are living in frustration, in desperation, because of lack of access to the right support. That’s my concern.

“How many more people need to be killed before we do something?”

On Thursday afternoon, at Nicholson Street mall in Footscray, busy Vietnamese restaurants, halal butchers, and shops selling African wares, are surrounded by those living on the edge of society.

All around the mall are people in the grips of mental illness, struggling with addiction or sleeping rough.

A barefooted man with a bottle of red wine stumbles through the mall. Another man sits slumped against the wall, dazed. A woman on the corner in a hooded jumper begs for money.

Talk of the shooting lingers everywhere. “Did you hear six shots were fired?” a person on the street asks their companion, as they walk past a makeshift tribute to Ahmed, a traffic pole draped in paper hearts, sunflowers and white roses.

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Down the street, in an area of the mall known as Little Africa, everything from beauty salons for hair braiding to sparkly, bright-coloured Eritrean-style dresses can be found.

It is almost noon, and Azhar Habib is standing outside his charcoal chicken shop.

Like many in the community, Habib knew Ahmed, who used to come into his shop for roast chicken. He always paid for his meal and was often withdrawn and quiet.

“I know so many of other homeless people in the area … They talk, they communicate, but he’s not like that,” he says. “He’s very quiet.”

Habib says the community is still coming terms with his death.

“It’s really sad and shouldn’t have happened that way,” he says.

“There’s so many mental health and addiction problems around here. I can’t help but think the police should have come better prepared.”

Habib has seen police defuse potentially dangerous situations in the Footscray CBD many times over the years.

Footscray has long been grappling with a surge in crime, overt drug use and anti-social behaviour, but long-term residents and business owners say the situation has deteriorated significantly in the last two years.

Traders have also spoken of having to disarm people wielding knives or other weapons like scissors.

Two months ago, Maribyrnong Council dismantled a playground at the Nicholson Street Mall due to concerns it was being used to take drugs, sleep rough, or as a public toilet, with needles found hidden in play equipment.

Habib was one of a group of local community members who had an urgent meeting with the Maribyrnong City Council and politicians in the aftermath of Ahmed’s death.

He and other traders laid bare the grim reality of what they see each day.

They spoke of the urgent need for culturally diverse social workers who they say could work alongside outreach services in Footscray’s CBD.

Many, like Habib, already volunteer with local health and outreach services – offering compassionate, culturally sensitive support to help connect people experiencing homelessness with the care they need.

As Habib talks, a gaunt man in a yellow and black baseball jacket wanders over. He paces from side to side, eyes darting wildly. He fist bumps Habib and tells him he has nowhere to sleep tonight.

He is hungry, and he wants to know when the chicken shop will be open.

“I will come find you at 12.30,” Habib tells the man, giving him a hug.

“Inshallah,” the man replies, an Arabic phrase meaning “God willing”.

He crosses the road and vanishes down the street.

“He comes to see me and I will give him some food,” Habib says.

“He does not trouble anyone. It is important that he feels loved and cared for. This costs me nothing.”

Following Ahmed’s death, local Labor MP Katie Hall met with Premier Jacinta Allan to discuss whether social services in the suburb can operate with a deeper cultural connection.

In a statement, Hall said Footscray, which is home to the busiest non-CBD station in Melbourne, has always been a place where people seek help.

She notes the suburb is full of resources including Cohealth, mental health service the Saltwater Clinic, the Salvation Army, and others offering housing and addiction support.

But Dr Berhan Ahmed says the problem is not the number of services available, but the gaps between them, especially what he described as lack of culturally responsive care.

“These services address the symptoms, but they don’t solve the problem,” he says.

Many of those he supports in the African-Australian community are grappling with complex, interwoven issues – homelessness, mental health, addiction and systemic barriers.

“For instance, a lot of them are in such a state of crisis they don’t have any form of ID,” he explains. “So when they go to Centrelink or other mainstream services, they hit a wall. That’s why we started issuing identification cards ourselves.”

Ilo Diaz from the Centre Against Racial Profiling said Ahmed’s death had stirred up old racial tensions simmering beneath the surface between the police and the African community.

For many, Diaz says, it had evoked memories of a 2011 Office of Police Integrity report raising concerns of excessive force and “racial targeting” by police against a group of young men of African background in Melbourne.

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Two years later, Victoria Police settled a landmark case brought against it by six young African men alleging racial profiling and discrimination between 2005 and 2009.

“It’s like a steam pot that’s got no way for the steam to escape, and in these moments the lid pops off,” he says.

On Tuesday hundreds took to the streets of Footscray in a peaceful protest demanding an independent inquiry into Ahmed’s death.

Outside the police station, there were raw and fraught scenes as a Somali woman cried out to a row of officers standing guard: “You killed our son.”

This week a Victoria Police spokeswoman said: “We strongly reject any claims that this matter was racially motivated.”

As emotions run deep in Footscray, Habib says has he has not lost hope that trust can be restored with the police, but he believes this can only be done through an independent investigation into Ahmed’s death.

“We need to see justice has been served properly,” he says.

“Until then, we will continue to speak up for a man who can no longer speak for himself.”

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