A man who was shot in the leg by a junior police officer during a routine response to a noise complaint has sued Victoria police for compensation.
Andrew Wilczewski, 50, was shot in his back yard while holding a shovel, allegedly “fearing for his safety”, after an officer scaled his back fence and started banging on windows.
According to a writ lodged in the Victorian supreme court, two police officers arrived at Wilczewski’s home near Geelong shortly before midnight on 26 August 2020.
It is alleged the officers rang the front doorbell and knocked on windows, without a response. Wilczewski was listening to loud music at the back of the property, according to the writ.
The officers then tried to enter a back gate, which was padlocked, before one scaled the fence. According to the writ, the officer did not identify herself before shining a torch into the house and banging on windows and doors.
“After several minutes of this activity, the plaintiff, fearing for his safety, walked out one of the back doors of the premises, holding a shovel,” a writ lodged on behalf of Wilczewski said.
“The plaintiff was carrying the shovel for the purposes of self-defence.”
It is alleged the officer then yelled at Wilczewski before firing a bullet into his right leg. Victoria police declined to comment as the matter is before the courts. It is yet to file its defence in the case. The officer has previously said she was also acting in self-defence.
As first reported by the Age, Wilczewski was charged with seven offences including threatening and assaulting an emergency worker with a weapon. But those charges were dropped last year due to inconsistencies with evidence and no realistic chance of conviction.
Wilczewski’s legal team argues the officers “acted negligently and breached their duty of care”. The supervising officer is also accused of “failing to properly train, monitor, assess and supervise” their junior colleague, who fired the gun.
Wilczewski is described as “the victim of an unlawful trespass and a shooting when he posed no threat or danger to police officers or members of the public”.
“Following the shooting, the plaintiff was treated as the aggressor and was charged […], notwithstanding that the evidence demonstrated that the plaintiff was the victim of the incident, and that there was not sufficient evidence to warrant the charges,” the writ said.
Wilczewski’s lawyers said he now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and compromised mobility. They have also claimed he suffered “humiliation and disgrace, including as a result of media coverage of charges laid against the plaintiff”.
“He has suffered a loss of earnings and earning capacity as a result of his injuries,” the writ said. “He claims loss of earnings and earning capacity.”
