A man has been fatally shot by NSW Police in the Hunter region on Friday morning after he allegedly stabbed one officer and wounded another.
Police said they attended a house in Bishopsgate Street, Wickham, just before 8am to speak to a person in relation to a theft that had taken place overnight.
There was a confrontation after police arrived and the man, believed to be in his early 30s or 40s, allegedly produced a knife.
"A male police officer was stabbed in the upper back, near the armpit region; a female constable was also [stabbed]," said Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna.
"[She] had lacerations to her hand. During this confrontation, the man was shot by police."
The two "fairly junior" officers tried to help the man, who is yet to be formally identified, but he died on his way to hospital.
"Police don't come to work looking to find themselves in these sorts of situations; they go from protecting their own lives to trying to save another," Assistant Commissioner McKenna said.
The officers were taken to John Hunter Hospital, where they remain receiving treatment and are being supported by their family and colleagues.
Assistant Commissioner McKenna said their prognosis was good.
"These two officers are very, very lucky to be sitting up alive and breathing after what was a very confronting, very dangerous situation."
A critical incident investigation involving the state crime command's homicide squad is now underway.
That squad has been tasked with looking at the circumstances surrounding the incident and the "discharge of a police firearm".
The matter would also be subject to independent review, police said.
Just last month, another police investigation was commenced after officers shot a 32-year-old man at a Western Sydney train station following a "frenzied attack" on a cleaner.
The man allegedly set upon the cleaner "without warning" just after midnight, leaving him with puncture wounds to his left arm.
Assistant Commissioner Smith said, at the time, that the incident was traumatic for the officers involved, and the attack was an isolated act.
An incident in January at Tenterfield Police Station, in northern NSW, also prompted another investigation after a 48-year-old father-of-two was shot dead by an officer after he allegedly walked inside the reception and pointed a gun at police.
