Shot Dead: When cops kill, who polices the police? - Nicola Gilbert
AN AIRLIE BEACH TRAGEDY
Shot Dead is the powerful true story of a family's relentless fight for truth and justice after their 24-year-old son, Luke Gilbert, a tourist enjoying a night out with his girlfriend in Airlie Beach, Queensland, was shot dead by two police officers under highly suspicious circumstances on October 1st, 2022.
Constable Liam Forster and Senior Constable David Murray opened fire after an 18 second interaction in which Luke was provoked, harassed and threatened, ending Luke’s life in a brutal and shocking display of lethal force. What followed was not just grief, but a spiralling nightmare of unanswered questions, institutional silence, and a justice system that seemed more concerned with protecting itself than uncovering the truth.
This book uncovers disturbing evidence, including serious allegations of a concealed personal relationship between Constable Forster and Luke’s new girlfriend, a potential motive that raises questions of stalking, premeditation, and murder. As the family sought answers, they were met not with transparency, but with denials, obfuscation, and what appears to be a coordinated cover-up, all in a state where, at the time, Queensland Police had shot more people than the rest of the country combined.
When the official pathways to justice fall silent, the story ceases to be just about police misconduct, it becomes a searing indictment of systemic failure and the collapse of accountability across the entire justice and oversight apparatus.
The fight for justice is far from over. For the Gilbert family, this book is not a conclusion, it is only the beginning.
Follow their campaign: #JusticeForLuke
"On a warm and sunny morning, the first Sunday of May 2022, we stood at the end of our driveway in Mandurah, Western Australia, arms wrapped around each other, waving goodbye to our eldest son, Luke, as he set off in his Toyota Hilux ute to travel Australia.
He never came home.
Exactly five months later, on October 1st, 2022, came the knock on the door that no parent should ever face.
'He died,' they said.
That was the moment the lies began."
