The man shot dead by police outside a New South Wales medical clinic after he allegedly attempted to take hostages while armed with a gun has been identified as Alexander Stuart Pinnock.
The 34-year-old died after being shot at by multiple officers on Wednesday, NSW police have said.
The shooting ended an almost two-hour stand-off that began when Pinnock pulled out the weapon – believed to be a Glock pistol – during a consultation with his doctor at the Nowra practice.
The NSW police assistant commissioner, Peter Cotter, said on Wednesday the man was known to police and had a “very minor criminal record for nonviolent offences”.
“He is known to police through our intervention with him generally in the mental health space,” Cotter said, noting police had more recently dealt with the man during “psychological medical episodes”.
Pinnock was sentenced last year after pleading guilty for posing as a lawyer.
He was featured on the A Current Affair news program last year, claiming he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and believed he was a lawyer after buying a piece of paper that said he had a law degree from Charleston State University in the United States.
He used it to practice in multiple states including Victoria and South Australia.
“No one believed this more than I did,” Pinnock said.
“I’m not a lawyer, which is why I’ve pleaded guilty.”
He added: “It is catastrophic the damage that I’ve caused. It really is.”
In a statement in May 2023, the Victorian Legal Services Board said Pinnock was not a registered legal practitioner and should not be engaging in any type of legal practice.
“As an unqualified person, Mr Pinnock – who has been known to go by the names Alec Stuart and Alec Anton Stuart – also must not advertise, represent, or do anything else that states or implies that he is entitled to engage in legal practice,” the board said.
The Victorian agency acknowledged that Pinnock had pleaded guilty in the NSW local court to six offences relating to unqualified legal practice.
Pinnock was known to the Nowra health clinic and was speaking with a doctor before 1pm on Wednesday when he drew his gun and began threatening staff, according to the police.
Three people inside the clinic were able to quickly escape before the fourth and final person inside was eventually able to leave.
Pinnock left the clinic almost two hours later before grabbing a police ballistic shield dropped by officers.
“The man picked up the shield, further brandished the gun, raising it in the air and raising it at police and a number of shots were fired by police in the direction of the man,” Cotter said. “He was hit multiple times. A number of police … fired shots.”
Paramedics treated Pinnock but he died at the scene.
Cotter said the police did their “very best to negotiate with this person” before he was shot.
“I can’t step into the minds of our police officers and it’s not my role to, except to say obviously there was fear in their minds, and they acted upon that fear.”
Police on Thursday called for people to come forward if they witnessed the incident.
“Police believe there were a number of people in the vicinity who may have witnessed the incident,” the force said in a statement.
The homicide squad’s critical incident team is investigating the shooting. Critical incidents are interactions with police that result in deaths or serious injuries.
The internal probe will be overseen by the police watchdog.
“The NSWPF are investigating the circumstances of the incident and this investigation will be reviewed by the professional standards command,” a Law Enforcement Conduct Commission spokesperson said.
“The Lecc is independently monitoring the investigation of the critical incident … to ensure public confidence in the investigation.”
