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A Victoria Police officer killed in the line of duty has been remembered as a "bright light" by his devastated family, who have been left "with a pain that has taken our breath away".
Key points:
- Constable Joshua Prestney "found his calling" in the police force after seeing how much his younger brother loved the job, his family said
- The 28-year-old trainee officer has been remembered as a "creative, insightful, loving and genuine soul"
- Wednesday's incident is the biggest loss of officer lives in a single event in Victoria Police's history
Constable Joshua Prestney was one of four officers killed after being hit by a truck late Wednesday afternoon.
Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Constable Glen Humphris, Senior Constable Kevin King and Constable Prestney had been standing in the emergency lane on the Eastern Freeway in Kew preparing to impound a Porsche 911 when they were fatally struck.
The driver of the Porsche, 41-year-old Melbourne mortgage broker Richard Pusey, is now facing multiple charges, including failing to render assistance, while the driver of the truck remains under police guard in hospital.
In a statement released by Constable Prestney's family, his parents Andrew and Belinda said their son had "found his calling" in the police force after seeing how much his younger brother, Alex, loved the job.
"The proudest moment of our lives was when Alex presented Josh with his badge at the graduation ceremony in December last year," the family said in the statement.
"We cannot fathom the circumstances that have led us to this point."
The 28-year-old trainee officer, who had been stationed at Nunawading Highway Patrol, was a "creative, insightful, loving and genuine soul", with a passion for music and sports, his family added.
"The thought of never hearing his guitar playing throughout the house, never sharing our sporting adventures together again, never going to the football with him again, never laughing over silly family jokes with him again breaks our hearts and fills us with a pain that has taken our breath away," they said.
"Our hearts go out to the families of the other officers tragically taken from them."
'Their names will forever be remembered'
Wednesday's incident is the biggest loss of officer lives in a single event in Victoria Police's history.
Tributes have poured in for the four officers, with Victoria's Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton lauding their bravery.
"Their names will forever be remembered, their service honoured, and their memories celebrated," Chief Commissioner Ashton said.
"These officers were undertaking their everyday duties in helping to keep the community safe when they were killed.
"They were our colleagues, our friends, our squadmates, our family.
"Each from different backgrounds, each with different life experiences, each with a common goal to keep the community safe."
Police are still waiting to interview the driver of the refrigerated truck, which Chief Commissioner Ashton said appeared to have moved from the right-most lane of the freeway to the emergency lane shortly before it hit the officers while travelling at 100 kilometres per hour.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, police, disasters-and-accidents, emergency-incidents, accidents, road, vic, kew-3101, melbourne-3000
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