The family of Steve Pampalian who was shot dead by New South Wales police in Sydney while suffering a psychotic episode is calling on the force to retract its suggestion he was “known to police” or provide evidence to support the claim.
The demand comes as the NSW Greens accused police of curating the narrative around other people fatally Tasered or shot in recent months, including Clare Nowland and Krista Kach.
Steve was killed in his North Willoughby driveway in May after he ran at police with two knives.
The assistant commissioner Leanne McCusker told reporters the following day he had been known to police. “Yes, he is known to police,” she said in response to a question. “But I would probably describe that as quite minimal.”
Steve’s brother Eddie Pampalian said at the time he assumed his brother had had a run-in with police he was unaware of.
But he claims he has since been told twice by police – after asking how his brother was on their radar – that Steve was in fact not known to them.
The family was separately told at the time of his death that it took longer than normal for them to be notified because Steve was not in their system.
“A lot of people thought he was a lunatic, a criminal,” Eddie Pampalian told Guardian Australia. “If it’s not true, we want the police to retract the statement and apologise.”
NSW police said they were unable to comment because the shooting was subject to an ongoing investigation.
The NSW Greens justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, said she was concerned by what took place after the 95-year-old great-grandmother Clare Nowland was Tasered by police and Krista Kach was fatally shot with a bean bag round.
“There is something happening internally and culturally to try to control the factual narrative,” she said.
The initial police press release announcing Kach’s death mentioned she had threatened locals and officers with an axe before barricading herself inside her unit – but did not mention any mental health issues.
It stated “a number of tactical options” including a Taser had been used to take her into custody nine hours later but bean bag rounds were not referenced.
Some media outlets described Kach as an “axe-wielding woman” who died after being Tasered by police. The next day the assistant commissioner Peter McKenna said he could not comment on whether she was experiencing mental health issues.
Higginson said Kach’s family felt the details provided by police skewed the story, which propelled them to put out their own statement four days after her death.
“We told the police in no uncertain terms that she was not well that day and she needed medical help,” the family said in a statement, which claimed the episode was triggered by the news she would soon be homeless.
“Our mother was not a dangerous person, she has lived through difficult circumstances but she was a loving and capable person who cared for people and her family.”
Higginson also pointed to the revelation that crucial details about the incident that led to Nowland’s death were deleted from the initial media statement NSW police put out about the incident.
Earlier drafts of the statement showed a decision was made to remove details including that Nowland was holding a knife and was Tasered. An email from NSW police’s executive director of public affairs, Elizabeth Deegan, also questioned whether Nowland’s age should be included in the release – before it ultimately was.
Guardian Australia requested information relating to how Steve Pampalian was known to police prior to him being fatally shot and correspondence relating to the first media release after his death.
Information on how Steve may have been known to police was not released and emails and drafts related to the press release were only partially disclosed under freedom of information laws.
McCusker approved the media statement without any changes but documents that showed the “thinking processes” of the officials involved in its drafting – including opinions on what information to release about the incident that led to Pampalian’s death – were not released.
The police claimed doing so would potentially make officials reluctant to put their views in writing.
The police also refused to provide similar emails relating to the media release the force prepared after Kach’s death. The emails released to Guardian Australia were heavily redacted.
Before Kach’s death, the police had given evidence to a coronial inquest about the known lethal range of bean bag rounds.
But this information cannot be revealed. The police secured nonpublication orders over any evidence relating to their tactics by claiming disclosure could compromise future operations.
That coronial inquest was examining the death of Todd McKenzie – who was suffering a psychotic episode when fatally shot by police in Taree in 2019.
Sam Lee, a senior solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre, said there was a conflict of interest when requesting documents from police using FoI.
“The problem when you’re asking for information to do with police, is that they’re the ones making the decision about whether to release information or not,” she said. “It’s … a conflict of interest.”
Lee argued when a critical incident occurred police often went into “protection mode” and “damage control”.
“I would say that the narrative – not just around these shootings but around police shootings in general where there is an issue around the person’s mental wellbeing – that there is a level of secrecy involved because you don’t want to admit fault.”
Lee and Jeremy King, a Victorian lawyer specialising in police misconduct based in Melbourne, said there should be an independent ombudsman that takes charge when police are involved in a shooting or potential crime.
King said the idea was raised during Victoria’s royal commission into the mental health system. It would mean police did not comment on an incident where they could be at fault.
