Police have allegedly shot a man in the buttocks following a confrontation in the central western NSW town of Cowra.
A dramatic photo has emerged showing an officer holding his firearm up at an indigenous man in a red t-shirt who appears to have his back to the officer.
Around 11.30am on Wednesday police were called to the scene on Jindalee Circuit in Cowra where they chased the suspect through backyards and neighbouring streets.
A gun shot was heard around midday and before police had the suspect handcuffed on the ground.
Witnesses say he was seen running away from police and was brandishing a baseball bat before the suspect was shot.
“They shot him in the buttocks,” one witness said. “He’s pretty bad.
“He was running away from them but somebody said before that he had a baseball bat.”
Witnesses say it occurred after an incident earlier Wednesday morning where a woman was allegedly stabbed in a neighbouring street before a dispute escalated further and police were called.
The witness said the family of the suspect were attending a funeral before arriving at the scene of the shooting where they began to confront police.
Ambulance and extra police arrived shortly after to control the crowd.
The man has been named by locals as Dennis Doolan.
One witness, Justin, uploaded the image to Facebook and said Mr Doolan was "unarmed in red shot buy [sic] a police officer.. today... pure racism at its finest."
A tradesman who witnessed the shooting posted a video to Facebook not long after saying he saw police shoot a "young bloke" in the housing commission area he was working in.
"Cops have just shot a bloke up there," he said. "F--kin' heard the gunshot and everything."
Resident Ash Cole said police came to her house two streets away and told them to lock all windows and doors.
Mr Doolan is in a stable condition.
Assistant Commissioner Geoffrey McKechnie will address the media at Dubbo police station at 3pm.
