Boy Dead, Vic Police Shoot Father

[icyfroth]

Devastated friends have taken to social media to express their shock and sorrow after an 11-year-old boy was killed by his father at a cricket oval in Melbourne's southeast.

Luke Batty died from severe head injuries at the oval in Tyabb, near Hastings, after he was attacked following the local club's cricket training.

The year six Flinders Christian Community College pupil was treated at the scene but was unable to be revived.

The victim's 54-year-old father, from Chelsea Heights, was taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition, after police say he came at officers with a knife after they were called to the scene in Tyabb, near Hastings, about 6.30pm (AEDT).

Commander Doug Fryer would not confirm if the father inflicted the boy's "quite brutal" injuries or exactly how the boy died, insisting that it was a matter for the coroner.

"I confirm that the male shot by police is father of the child who is deceased and we're not looking for anyone else," he said during a media briefing at the scene last night.

"I can confirm that the young boy has died of significant injuries. I'm not going to go into the detail of how they occurred or what they were," Fryer said on Thursday morning.

Link to Article And Video

WHAAAAT????!!!!

[*crikey*mate*]

ok folks, move on, a mistake was made. It happens.

We are discussing the death of two people and the repercussions for others involved.

We've now established that this doesn't include any siblings.

Don't know about any one else, but i caught onto that the first, second and third time someone stated it,

Time to put the stick down.

[cherry*135]

imo best to clear up any mistakes early on so others reading the thread can be clear on facts - avoids confusion.... (making another post about it doesn't  achieve anything, sounds like a school teachers reprimand addressed to small children, I for one don't think that was necessary).

[sea_jay61]

I will never understand how anyone, having just lost a child in a very brutal way, can stand up to the media and answer questions from them, and also be concise about preventing this happening to other families. If that was my child I would be inconsolable.

[*crikey*mate*]

but it's all about perrspective and how many times the mistake has to be emphasized.

seemed like a school yard attack of the bullies to me, everyone wanting to get their turn to point the finger and laugh.

seemed mean and unfair.

it was a mistake.

how many times do we need to relive it?

anyway

[cherry*135]

I thought the same sea jay. Everyone is different though. I wonder if the Mum's job is speaking in front of groups/public/school children (as in, she is used to doing that). She has a long road in front of her, may still be riding on shock.

[cherry*135]

how many times do we need to relive it?

crikey - 2 posts from you are no different, it was over before you made the first one.

[*crikey*mate*]

---

@sea_jay61 wrote:
I will never understand how anyone, having just lost a child in a very brutal way, can stand up to the media and answer questions from them, and also be concise about preventing this happening to other families. If that was my child I would be inconsolable.

---

that crossed my mind too..

but then maybe by disassociating with the actual evemt, and decompartmentalizing it is the way this lady is going to cope with what has happened.

It probably all seems so surreal to her yet, hard to explain, but some cope best like this and it is later and behind closed doors when they allow themselves to grieve that it hits home.

She is being a mother, still putting on a brave face for her child, she hasn't reconciled with the fact yet, that it is she that will need to grieve.

That was my conclusion anyway.

When everyone else is suddenly gone, someone has to stand strong, for some it is hard to allow others to stand strong for them.

[freakiness]

---

@sea_jay61 wrote:
I will never understand how anyone, having just lost a child in a very brutal way, can stand up to the media and answer questions from them, and also be concise about preventing this happening to other families. If that was my child I would be inconsolable.

---

Yes, that's roughly what I was thinking.  Perhaps it's just part of her way of coping.

Sometimes a person will do anything to avoid breaking down and crying for fear of never being able to stop.

[*crikey*mate*]

---

@am*3 wrote:

how many times do we need to relive it?

crikey - 2 posts from you are no different, it was over before you made the first one.

---

I stood up for somebody who I thought was being unfairly targetted.

For that, I make no apologies.

[twinkles**stars]

I've just watched that video and applaude her. What a beautiful person she is to be able to stay calm, collect her thoughts and not display any anger.

IMO what is keeping her together is the thought that her son loved his father, that the man was ill and nothing will ever change that.