TRAGIC Luke Batty had begged for a few more minutes with the father he rarely saw in the moments before he was killed.

His devastated mum Rosie Batty has spoken of her shock after his brutal killing at the hands of his father, Greg, last night.

“What triggered this was a case of his dad having mental health issues,” she said today.

“He was in a homelessness situation for many years, his life was failing, everything was becoming worse in his life and Luke was the only bright light in his life.

“No one loved Luke more than his father. No one loved Luke more than me — we both loved him.”

Luke, 11, a grade 6 student at Flinders Christian Community College in Tyabb, was killed during cricket practice about 6.30pm last night at the Bunguyan Reserve on Frankston-Flinders Rd.

The attack happened in front of shocked witnesses, including many children and friends of the young boy.

His mother was also present.

“I’m in shock, disbelief, (but I have) the amazing support of my family and friends,” Ms Batty said in an interview today outside her home with media.

“My family are from England and they are coming out now.

“And what I want to share with you is: I’m the victim of family violence, and if anything comes out of this, I want it to be a lesson to everybody.

“Luke was at cricket practice and ... I believed he was safe. It’s just a little cricket practice.

“There was people there.

“I’m a victim like anybody else. I don’t think anyone really understood or understands what someone is able to do.

“And so, as a sane person, or as a caring parent, you trust the very person who killed him, loved him, and they did love him, they loved him more than anyone else.

“The only two people who love their son more than anyone, is their mother and father.

“And the very tragic thing about this is the father’s life was tragic and based on ... challenges in his life that we couldn’t help him with and nor could anyone else.

“He was on a path of desperate (sic).”

Recounting the horrific incident, she added: “It was just a normal cricket practice and most of the kids and their parents had gone.

“Luke came to me and said could I have a few more minutes with my dad because he doesn’t see him very often and I said yes, sure, that’s OK.

“There’s no reason for me to be concerned, there was no reason to be concerned, I thought it was in an open environment - that’s something I have to understand.

“Police have suggested it was a calculated act that would have occurred at some point and I’m not to blame myself.”

To read more of Ms Batty’s public statement today CLICK HERE

Emotional friends have paid tribute online to Luke.

Paramedics frantically tried to revive the grade 6 student, but he died at the scene from head injuries.

Tributes to the slain boy began pouring in on social media last night, with one Facebook page attracting nearly 6000 members by 9am.

MORE: FRIENDS MOURN ‘CHEERFUL, CHEEKY’ KID

Carol Bennett said she was “so sorry that you were taken so early in your life and in such a horrific way”.

Tahila Williams wrote: “It’s sad to see such a young boy have his life taken away from him when he had done nothing wrong.”

Yvette Wagg said: “Very sad and shocked to hear this devastating news ... Condolences to all.”

Premier Denis Napthine said he was shocked by the tragic death.

“It’s an absolute tragedy, our hearts go out to the boy’s Mum and his extended family and we’re also thinking of the police officers who were involved, they must be also devastated and affected by the whole incident,” Dr Napthine said.

“There’s no doubt that a tragedy like this absolutely affects the whole state of Victoria, we all feel the pain of the Mum and her family and we all, as parents, want to give our children a hug and just absolutely, with a tear in our eye, say that we are devastated by the terrible, terrible tragedy.”

After the attack, four police officers tried to subdue his knife-wielding father with capsicum spray before shooting him in the chest, witnesses said.

Greg, 54, of Chelsea Heights, was taken to The Alfred hospital, where he died about 1.30am, police spokeswoman Natalie Webster said.

“I can confirm that the male that the police shot was the father of the deceased boy,” Commander Doug Fryer said last night.

The boy’s mother was at the ground.

“We’ve had an absolute tragedy here tonight,” Commander Fryer said from the scene.

“It’s a horrific scene.”

Speaking this morning, Commander Fryer said it had been a “shocking time” for the boy’s family, the witnesses at the scene and the officers involved.

“Our members were confronted by an incident that thankfully, it’s very rare when it happens, but when it does, they put their training into practice,” he told 3AW.

“They used an option that they thought appropriate and unfortunately we’ve now got two people dead.”

Commander Fryer said the boy’s mother, who was estranged from his father, was “in close proximity to where this happened”.

“I don’t know how a mother gets past losing her son in these sorts of ways,” he said.

Children were at the ground for cricket training and Commander Fryer said police wanted to speak to anyone who witnessed the incident.

“We spoke to a lot of people last night,” he said.

“Because cricket practice had just finished, we think there were probably kids down there and parents down there that may have seen something who we haven’t yet spoken to.”

COMMUNITY IN MOURNING

A steady procession of mourners has continued arriving at Tyabb cricket ground throughout the day.

Simon Cairns, who said worked with Luke’s mum, said she was a lovely person and “an average single mum”.

Asked about Luke, tears welled in his eyes and he said it was too difficult to talk about the beloved local boy.

“We live in the community and he was someone that we loved and know,” Mr Cairns said.

“It’s just horrible that it’s happened right here next to home.”

Danny Latcham also arrived to pay his respects with his son Kaden, a football teammate of Luke’s.

He said Luke was “a good kid” who was always happy, and a talented sportsman.

Luke’s classmates were told of his tragic death this morning when they arrived at Flinders Christian Community College in Tyabb.

The flag was flying at half mast as parents, students and teachers rallied around each other.

At an emotional school meeting this morning, Luke was remembered as a popular, happy child who loved life and enjoyed his sport.

Executive principal Jill Healey said the death of the popular year 6 student was “an absolute shock and a tragedy”.

“There were lots of tears this morning,” she said.

She said the school community was coping as well as could be expected, and that counselling had been arranged for all those affected by Luke’s death.

Luke’s friends plan to hold a vigil for the 11-year-old at the cricket oval where he was killed.

The small community is reeling from the horrible crime and friends have already begun to bring flowers.

HORRIBLE TRAGEDY

Taylor Cuthbertson, 15, said a friend of hers was a witness to the horrible scenes.

“He was just crying when he was telling me what happened.

“It’s so horrible.”

Emergency services were called to the oval on Frankston-Flinders Rd in Tyabb about 6.30pm yesterday after the vicious attack.

Witnesses told the Herald Sun that when officers from Mornington police station arrived, the father turned on them with a knife, forcing them to shoot him.

The incident shocked the local community, with one resident describing it as “bloody horrific”.

Tyabb Cricket Club officials would not comment about the incident last night, saying it was “too raw”.

But the club’s junior cricket co-ordinator, Ron Dyall, said the boy had played for the club for two or three years and was also an avid footballer.

Mr Dyall said he was devastated by what had happened.

“As his coach, I knew him pretty well,” he said.

“My own son plays in his team. I’m trying to figure out how to break it to him, and how we’re gonna deal with the kids.”

“I heard a couple of pop pops,” he said.

“It didn’t sound unusually loud. I’ve never seen anything like this. It doesn’t happen here.”

Melissa, 37, who did not wish to give her surname, said her father had also heard gunshots.

“We heard helicopters going over the oval,” she said. “I have an 11-year-old. I was nearly in tears when I heard.”

Commander Fryer said four local officers were confronted by the knife-wielding man when they arrived about 6.40pm.

“They’ve attempted to use less than lethal force (OC foam). They’ve attempted to talk him down. That has been unsuccessful,” he said.

“They have then discharged a firearm, hitting that male once in the chest.”

— with James Dowling, Samantha Landy, Rebekah Cavanagh, Tom Minear

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