Man dead, another seriously injured in stabbing and police shooting in Hillside, Melbourne

A man has died and another was critically injured in a knife attack and police shooting involving a father and stepson in Melbourne’s northwest, police say.

A 61-year-old man, identified only as Tony Di Falco, was found with stab wounds in the front garden of his home in Chris Crt, Hillside, at around 6.50am on Friday.

Attempts to save his life through cardiopulmonary resuscitation were unsuccessful and he died at the scene.

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While they were tending to Di Falco, police heard screaming coming from inside the house.

As they went inside, officers were confronted by a 32-year-old man from Preston, believed to be the victim’s stepson, who was carrying a knife, Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said.

A shot was fired at the man, but it is unclear if he was hit at this point.

Police and a 27-year-old pregnant woman, believed to be the gunman’s sister and Di Falco’s stepdaughter, who was also inside, left the house, but the gunman confronted officers again, Thomas said.

Thomas said officers tried to keep their distance as the man followed them down the street, where he allegedly damaged a police car and slashed one of its tires.

The armed man then attacked the officers again, Thomas said.

“They tried to get him to drop the knife and one of our members fired several shots that hit the perpetrator and the perpetrator fell to the ground,” Thomas said.

The 32-year-old man was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital under police guard and remains in a critical but stable condition with injuries to his upper and lower body.

It is unclear how many shots were fired by police. The use of force was the subject of ongoing investigations.

The stepsister, who Thomas said was “heavily pregnant,” was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

“We are treating this as a family violence incident,” Thomas said.

He said the alleged perpetrator showed up at the house “unannounced.”

It is believed mental health issues could be at play, as Di Falco’s stepson has suffered from mental health issues in the past.

The police are also investigating whether an ax was used, said Thomas.

“We still have a lot of work to do to understand why he was here today and what his purpose was here,” he said.

Thomas said the scene was “very confronting and disturbing” and that the officer who fired acted accordingly.

“From what I’ve seen, even though it’s early in the investigation, they appear to have done everything they could and they appear to have followed policy,” he said.

“Nobody comes to work and wants to be involved in an incident like this.”

The Armed Crime Squad will investigate the police shooting under the supervision of the Professional Standards Command.

“A call we didn’t expect”

Di Falco’s younger brother Nick told 7NEWS the 61-year-old had just beaten cancer and was planning to start a new life and build a house on the beach.

“He never had a chance,” he said.

“Tony always thought about his family, he had a big heart.

“He was a nice guy, he was a nice brother, he was a nice father.”

Of five siblings, Tony was the clown of the family, said his sister Laura.

“He always…made everyone laugh.

“He had so much character, full of jokes, we will miss that.

“We’re still trying to understand why, it’s a call we weren’t expecting this morning.”

Anyone with information about the incident has been urged to come forward.