Finding into death of Kevin Timothy Patrick Doherty
Deceased
Benjamin Paul Ray and Kevin Timothy Patrick Doherty
Demographics
male
Date of death
2022-07-22
Finding date
2023-10-09
Cause of death
Head and chest injuries from shotgun wounds
AI-generated summary
This coronial finding concerns the deaths of Benjamin Ray (49) and Kevin Doherty (50), who were fatally shot by Travis Cashmore on 22 July 2022 near Kirkstall, Victoria. The coroner established that Cashmore intentionally discharged a 12-gauge shotgun at both men, inflicting unsurvivable head and chest injuries. The deaths resulted from escalating animosity between Cashmore and Doherty following a December 2021 incident. Notably, Cashmore had attended Koroit Police Station two days prior, making a veiled threat ('leave your gun on the counter, so I can take care of him') that was not actioned by police. While this is a homicide-suicide case rather than a medical error case, it highlights potential communication and threat assessment gaps in police response to explicit warnings of violence.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- Growing animosity between Cashmore and Doherty
- December 2021 incident where Doherty threatened to kill Cashmore's friend
- Personal Safety Intervention Order creating tension
- Cashmore's expressed frustration about Doherty's criminal history and continued presence in community
- Unregistered shotgun in Cashmore's possession
- Police failure to appropriately respond to or document veiled threat made by Cashmore at police station on 20 July 2022
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