A man has been shot dead at the Westfield Food Court on Church St, Parramatta. Source: Supplied
A man was shot dead at the busy Westfield shopping centre in Parramatta this afternoon. Picture: Simon Chillingworth Source: News Limited
- Man shot at Westfield shopping centre in Parramatta
- Parts of the centre have been locked down
- Police asking motorists and pedestrians to avoid area
A MAN shot dead by police in a busy shopping centre was being pursued after an armed robbery and a carjacking in western Sydney, police say.
An experienced male officer shot and fatally wounded the 34-year-old in a service corridor at Parramatta's Westfield mall just before 4pm (AEDT) today.
The corridor is in a private area, near a food court and a JB Hi-Fi shop, on level five of the shopping centre.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford said the man was being pursued after a robbery at knife-point in Penrith this afternoon.
Police cars began chasing a suspect from that robbery along Sydney's M4 motorway before the police helicopter, PolAir, took over the pursuit.
The suspect's car crashed a short time later while still on the M4.
"It is alleged the driver of that vehicle was then involved in a violent carjacking of a second vehicle, which then sped away and was continually followed by PolAir," Mr Clifford said.
The driver was followed by a police officer into the Westfield shopping centre and into the level five service corridor.
"It appears that there was a violent struggle, a confrontation there," Mr Clifford said.
"And during that struggle the officer discharged his weapon, fatally wounding the 34-year-old."
It was unclear if the dead man was armed when he was shot, police said.
A critical incident investigation will examine the circumstances leading to the shooting and look at why a Taser stun gun was not used to subdue the man.
JB Hi-Fi employee Nikita King told AAP she heard about five gunshots.
One couple told The Daily Telegraph that they heard four gunshots – a first shot, quickly followed by three further shots.
The woman said she had been buying her lunch at the food court when she heard the shots.
But when the couple didn't hear any screams to follow, they thought they were mistaken until officers swarmed to the food court.
"I heard a bang and then three big bangs," the woman said.
"It was loud but it happened away from everyone in the food court.
"There were no screams after so we didn't think it was anything and then we saw police officers running in.
"Then it all started to happen. It was so quick, the police were quick to respond," she said.
Several retailers neighbouring the centre’s food court told The Telegraph they didn’t hear any shots at the time of the incident.
Police moved all people in the food court to one side and then told them to move on as the entire food court was blocked off.
Staff at the food outlets were allowed to stay on to pack up.
The rest of the centre remained open and shoppers were still walking around, many oblivious to the shooting.
Police have begun a critical incident investigation and are asking motorists and pedestrians to avoid the Church St area.
The investigations follow fatal incidents where police are involved.
- with AAP
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