Elderly woman crossing road on green walk signal is struck and killed by police car

By ASHLEY NICKEL, NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 11:09, 21 May 2026 | Updated: 11:28, 21 May 2026 A 71-year-old woman has died after being hit by a police car. Local woman Boksoon Kwon, 71, died in hospital on Thursday after being struck by the 4WD police car in Cairns, north Queensland, about 7am.  The Queensland Police car crossed an intersection from a left-only lane and struck the elderly woman as she walked on a pedestrian crossing on a green light. The Queensland Police Union said the three officers involved were attempting to catch an offender when they hit the woman, on the intersection of Sheridan and Lily streets, the Cairns Post reported. An investigation will determine if the officers were performing 'urgent duty driving'.  Officers are allowed to engage in urgent driving when responding to priority code one or two job, or if it is 'not practicable to obtain a priority code and immediate police response to an incident is required'. Deputy Commissioner John Tims said CCTV video - which captured the police car moments before the collision, police footage and public dashcam footage would be reviewed.  'We're aware there is a video out there, I'm not going to comment on it, that will form part of the investigation,' he said. A 71-year-old woman has died after being hit by a Queensland Police car (above) in Cairns on Thursday morning The woman was crossing on a green pedestrian light when she was struck Mr Tims did not confirm if the officers were responding to an emergency at the time of the collision. 'That will form part of the investigation and so I don't want to speculate now until we've got the full facts,' he said. 'We want to know answers, we want to be able to give answers to family and friends.' Ms Kwon's loved ones were being offered support by Queensland Police. 'We are providing as much support as possible to the family of the woman,' Mr Tims said. 'This is an incredibly sad loss and has changed the life of a family forever. 'It has also been felt by the officers involved and the QPS as a whole. 'My sympathies go out to the family and friends of the 71-year-old woman. It's unclear if the police car (pictured before the crash) was responding to an emergency 'Police officers go out every day to serve and protect their community. A tragedy like this is not something we want ever to see happen.' It's understood a sergeant and two senior constables were in the 4WD. It isn't clear who was driving   Ms Kwon's death will be investigated by the Ethical Standards Command, with oversight from the Crime and Corruption Commission.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.