Tasmania Police have revealed that the officer killed in yesterday’s shooting incident at North Motton is Keith Anthony Smith.
“Keith was a respected and committed officer, and his loss will be deeply felt across our policing family and the wider community,” said Police Commissioner Donna Adams.
Further information about Constable Smith is in the media release below.
The Premier Jeremy Rockliff announced that: “out of respect for the family and community of the fallen Tasmania Police Officer, the Tasmanian Liberals will not be making campaign announcements today.”
He did address the media today along with Police Minister Felix Ellis and Central Coast Mayor Cheryl Fuller; a transcript of the press conference is provided below.
The Greens said the “shocking event is an abrupt reminder of the risks they face in their job of keeping our community safe.”
Media release – Tasmania Police, 17 June 2025
Tasmania Police mourns fallen officer
Investigations continue today into the tragic shooting death of a Tasmania Police officer in the state’s north-west on Monday.
With the permission of the officer’s family, Tasmania Police Commissioner Donna Adams has confirmed the officer is Constable Keith Anthony Smith, a 25-year veteran of the police service.
Constable Smith, 57, was shot and killed at a rural property in North Motton on Monday morning as he and a fellow officer attended the premises to serve a court-ordered warrant to repossess the home.
Commissioner Adams said Constable Smith was a dedicated officer over a distinguished career with Tasmania Police, who was highly regarded and admired by his colleagues.
Constable Smith had worked in communities across the north and north-west and, for the past five years, was an officer working at Ulverstone police station.
“Keith was a respected and committed officer, and his loss will be deeply felt across our policing family and the wider community,” Commissioner Adams said.
“My heart goes out to Keith’s wife and family. We will be supporting them in every way we can during this incredibly difficult time.
“The Blue Family will come together today, and over the next days and weeks, and will support the family and each other.”
The family of Constable Smith has asked for privacy at this time.
Constable Smith joined Tasmania Police on 25September 2000, graduating on 11 May 2001, as part of Course 3/2000, and was a passionate cyclist, participating in the 2011 Charity Trust bike ride.
Constable Smith served in Northern District in both the Northern Crime Management Unit and uniform roles until 2020, when he transferred to Ulverstone uniform. He received the Commissioner’s Medal in 2011 and 20-year clasp in 2021, as well as the National Police Service Medal (15 years) in 2016.
Commissioner Adams acknowledged emergency services who responded to the incident and assisted at the scene on Monday.
She praised investigators and forensics officers who examined the scene and worked late into the night, through difficult weather conditions, gathering evidence.
“While no other staff have been injured in this terrible incident, all will be impacted by their involvement in such a tragic event,” Commissioner Adams said.
A 46-year-old North Motton man remains in Launceston General Hospital, under police guard, having undergone surgery for non life-threatening injuries.
No charges have yet been laid.
Transcript of media conference with Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff; Central Coast Mayor Cheryl Fuller; and Minister for Police and Emergency Services Felix Ellis, Ulverstone, 17 June 2025.
Jeremy Rockliff
Thank you. I’m joined today by the Mayor of the Central Coast municipality in the community of Ulverstone, Cheryl Fuller, and the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, the Honorable Felix Ellis MP.
Yesterday, a proud and brave Tasmanian man, Constable Keith Smith, started his day by putting on his Tasmanian police uniform. A day that began like many others. A day where he started, like all others, to protect and serve us all, all Tasmanians as he had done so for the last 25 years.
Tragically, Constable Smith did not return home to put on the civvies, to be with the people that he loved and those that loved him. To Constable Smith’s family and friends and loved ones, your grief is shared by all Tasmanians.
To those emergency responders who supported Constable Smith, we thank you for your incredible and brave service. The heartbreak of this tragedy will be felt clearly in this local community of Ulverstone, the Central Coast, the entire Western District, and indeed in every corner of the state of Tasmania,
It will be felt by every rank and every station and every corner of this state, Tasmania Police is just not a service, as the Commissioner said last night, it is indeed a family. And when one of their own is injured or falls, there is a ripple right throughout the entire Tasmanian police service for every rank and every station.
Many of us, if not all of us, would know a serving police officer. I reached out to some of my friends, just yesterday, friends who have been in the police service for over three decades. And as I offered my condolences, I said, “this tragedy really brings it home of how fortunate we are to have people like you.”
To every serving police man and woman who knew and served alongside your friend and colleague, the love and the support of our entire state of Tasmania is with you. We stand ready to provide any support possible, any support needed, to our Tasmanian police and our entire community at this very sad and tragic time I’ll now hand over to Police Minister Ellis.
Felix Ellis
Thank you. Premier. Today is National Police Legacy Day. I know so many in the big blue family are grieving. This is an unimaginable tragedy and has befallen a man of great service who has protected our community for decades.
The family and loved ones of Constable Keith Smith are grieving today, and the whole community stands united with them in support. Policing is more than a job, it’s a calling to service and to supporting people right across the community, those who you know and those who you don’t, to run towards the danger when others are going away, and to ensure that the peace is kept and that the law is upheld.
Right across Tasmania today, there are police officers who are grieving, families who are grieving, and a community who stands united with them in their grief. Here in Ulverstone, we’re a close knit community, and this has affected so many people so deeply.
We want to reach out to everyone who’s been affected by this, and say that support is available for you, that we’re here for each other, but these are some of the moments where the true Tasmanian spirit comes through, because we’re a small place that looks after everyone, and that’s what we’ll be seeing over the coming days.
In the immediate aftermath, we know that support needs to be provided to those directly affected and their families and loved ones around them, but our commitment is also to the longer term, because these moments can reverberate over weeks and months. We just want to say that we’re there for you, that we support you, and that the service won’t be forgotten.
We know that Constable Smith served with honour, and every Tasmanian who pulls on the uniform of our state is worthy of our support and our respect, and we’ll continue to provide that to you over coming weeks and months. I’m happy to take questions, but I’ll hand over to Mayor Cheryl Fuller.
Cheryl Fuller
Thank you Minister, and thank you Premier, for being with us today and for the offer of support to those in our community who will need it now and into the future. As the Minister has said, we’re a tight knit community made up of different communities and towns, and there will not be one amongst us who are not impacted in some way.
Our hearts and thoughts and prayers are with those immediately affected. Central Coast Council is proud of our long standing and close working relationship with the staff of the Western District. We see them regularly, and we thank them for their service regularly. They are visible in our community, and they provide service above and beyond.
We are thinking of them all today, and thank you to the Premier and the Minister for their offer of support. Obviously, council will play its role and do whatever we can to support those that are impacted. And of course, I encourage those that are impacted or seeing that impact in others to reach out to support services and take care of themselves and each other at this time.
Journalist – unidentified
Minister Ellis, why were the special operations groups there but not leading the approach to the house?
Felix Ellis
Look, investigations are underway, and I’m not going to pre-empt them today. We’re mourning a fallen police officer, and I know that Tasmania Police do incredible work across our community and across the police service to protect each other. So there will obviously be processes that are underway. We’re not going to preempt them, but today is just about supporting those who’ve been impacted by this tragedy. Minister,
Journalist – unidentified
Constable Smith, he was a police officer, but he was also a friend and family member. Can you talk to us more about him and [inaudible].
Felix Ellis
Yes, so we’re a small community, and many people will have known Constable Smith. There’s those of us who knew his family, and I think all of us who have police in our in our families as well, will be hugging them a little tighter tonight, because this is just so incomprehensible.
Felix Ellis
He served our community across Tasmania for 25 years, and did so with distinction and with honour, speaking with his family. Knowing that he’s left behind people who’ve looked up to him and looked to him to support is just just so unimaginable for for so many Tasmanians. That’s why we all stand ready to support all of those who’ve been affected by his loss over the coming days, weeks, months and years
Journalist – unidentified
We know this is the first police shooting death in a hundred years. Can you sort of speak about how rare or unusual this is for the community?
Felix Ellis
Tasmanian police do incredible work in very difficult and sometimes dangerous circumstances, but an event like this is incredibly rare. Our police do some of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in our community. But for something like this to happen to a serving police officer is just so out of the blue and and that’s why, that’s what, partly what makes this tragedy so unimaginable.
I want to thank all of our police officers who run towards the danger while others are going away. Our commitment is to make sure that we can keep them safe but when we have an event as unusual and as rare as this, it really just brings home how dangerous this job can be.
Journalist – unidentified
What political lines of inquiry will you be trying to stand up to ensure that this person’s colleagues, Constable Smith’s colleagues, are safer in the future than he unfortunately was?
Felix Ellis
Today’s not a day for politics, but we’ll, of course, continue to support Tasmanian police there. Their safety helps them to keep the community safe, and that’s why we’re so committed to it. But we’ll, of course, be working through the matters in days and weeks ahead. Today, we just mourn for Constable Smith and reiterate our commitment to support him, his family, his loved ones, his colleagues.
Journalist – unidentified
What do you have to say to Tasmanians that may be feeling a bit anxious about this situation?
Felix Ellis
Just that Tasmania Police are an incredible family, a group of people who are dedicated to service, to make great sacrifices for their community, and who are there to protect us all. If you have a police officer in your life, just reach out to them and let them know that you’re there for them. If there’s a police officer in your community, perhaps that you don’t even know but you see walking the beat today or in in the wider service, just please say thank you to them for their service and for their sacrifice to the people of Tasmania.
Journalist – unidentified
National Police Legacy Day is a relatively new initiative. Can you speak to the importance of it?
Felix Ellis
It’s a reminder, I think, that Tasmania Police, police around the country, do a difficult and dangerous job. And when the worst befalls them, they often leave people behind, people who relied on them in ways big and small, family members and loved ones. So the incredible work of Police Legacy is about supporting those who are left behind. It’s important that we help to honour the memory of fallen police officers by supporting those that they supported. And I just encourage everyone who’s grieving today and feeling this moment deeply, either for the tragedy that happened yesterday or tragedies in decades past, to know that there is support available and an entire nation behind.
Journalist – unidentified
Have you been able to meet with constable Smith’s family, or do you plan on meeting with them?
Felix Ellis
I spoke with members of constable Smith’s family earlier today, and I know that the Premier has done the same. We’re a small, close knit community. This is the area that both the Premier and I live in and serve, and we know many people who will be deeply affected by the loss of Constable Smith,
It’s a reminder that north west coast is a small place, and there are so many close knit communities and connections, particularly from someone like a police officer who serves the community and does so with distinction. So to Constable Smith’s family, just our hearts are with you. We can’t imagine what you’re going through, but we have an absolute commitment to ensure that you’re supported in the time ahead.
I’ve met him on a couple of occasions and and also the the police officer who was serving with on that day. My office is only a block away from the Ulverstone police station, and to think that something like this could happen in our communities, I say it’s unimaginable, it’s hitting so close to home for so many Tasmanians today.
Journalist – unidentified
Can you tell us a little bit more about the couple of times you met Constable Smith? What was he like in your interactions with him.
Felix Ellis
Just a man committed to service, a family man, and to have someone like that serving in Tasmanian police, I think he’s he’s one of the best of us. And that’s a reminder of what we’ve lost today as well, an extraordinary Tasmanian who was serving his community, serving with humility and with distinction, and yeah, we just grieve for his family and his loved ones.
Journalist – unidentified
He was approaching the house with another Senior Sergeant. We don’t know much about him at this stage. Do you know that person? Have you spoken to him and how’s he?
Felix Ellis
Look what I’ll say in general is that many of our officers have been affected by this, particularly those who served very closely with him. So our support for Constable Smith’s colleagues is absolute. We will provide the support that’s needed and necessary and that our whole hearts are with the team at the Ulverstone station, but across the broader Western District and right around Tasmania. Constable Smith had he served in a range of locations and roles, and there’ll be people whose lives he’s touched in his policing journey who will be feeling his loss very deeply today.
Media release – Rosalie Woodruff MP, Greens Leader, 17 June 2025
Statement on North Motton Tragedy
On behalf of the Tasmanian Greens, I express our deep sorrow and condolences to everyone who knew and loved Constable Keith Smith, and to the north west community.
Words alone cannot give solace to the family members, friends, and colleagues of Constable Smith. We are united with all other Tasmanians in offering them our love and support.
Our thoughts are also with the first responders who may be going to work today, still coming to terms with what happened. This shocking event is an abrupt reminder of the risks they face in their job of keeping our community safe.
This terrible event has sent shockwaves felt by all Tasmanians, but our thoughts are especially with north west community.
The Greens will be suspending election campaigning today. We thank the Premier and Opposition Leader for the sincere and respectful approach they have also taken. It reflects our united sorrow at this awful situation.
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