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An armed man, who was a father of two, has been shot dead by NSW Police in the state's north-west.
Corey Selby, 48, was shot in a conflict out the front of the Tenterfield Police Station, after he pointed a gun at officers just after 5pm on Thursday.
A neighbour claimed Selby waved a weapon out the front of his family home and threatened his wife, Cindy, inside.
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9News understands Cindy drove to the police station with their two children while neighbours called police.
NSW Police said they were checking on the welfare of Selby before the conflict and shooting.
NSW ambulance paramedics tried to save him but he died at the scene.
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Acting commander Steve Egginton said police had no other option but to shoot the man.
"Police were called to a job in regards to a concern for the welfare of this particular individual, they have responded to that and it has ended up in a set of circumstances where there was a conflict out front of the Tenterfield Police Station," Egginton said.
"Police don't go to work at any point in their careers thinking they will use their firearm at any point… if someone points a firearm at them they need to defend themselves."
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Egginton said the man's family were devastated by the entire situation.
"We are providing them with what support we can to help them understand the process we need to go through to give them some answers in terms of how this came about," he said.
"(It was) very confronting for our police, very confronting for those in the community who may have seen or heard what went on too, so we are trying to do our best to support everybody involved in this."
He said police had limited interactions with the man in the past.
Police will conduct a critical incident investigation on the circumstances surrounding the incident, including the discharge of a police firearm.
That investigation will be subject to independent review.
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Source: 9News
