One of the four police officers killed by a truck on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway had only graduated from the academy in November, with his grandmother revealing he had been "so proud to serve".
Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Constable Glen Humphris, Senior Constable Kevin King and Constable Josh Prestney lost their lives as they were dealing with the driver of a Porsche who had tested positive to a roadside drug test on Wednesday afternoon.
Constables Prestney and Humphris had both joined the force recently and were undergoing placements as part of probationary training.
Sen Const Taylor was stationed at the road policing drug and alcohol section, where Const Humphris was doing a placement.
Senior Constable King was stationed at Nunawading Highway Patrol, where Const Prestney was placed.
Const Prestney's grandmother Eliza Anderson told the Herald Sun the 28-year-old had only graduated from the police academy in November and begun his latest placement on Tuesday.
She described him as "beautiful", "talented" and "so proud to serve" the community.
"We were so proud of you. God bless Josh. Miss you forever," she wrote on Facebook, the paper reports.
A man named Trevor, who drives a truck similar to the one that hit the officers, told Melbourne radio he had lost his cousin in the crash.
He said his cousin had been in the force for eight years and was a father and husband, suggesting he was referring to Sen Const King.
"I saw the news break and thought 'that's a familiar run, my cousin runs up and down there'," Trevor told 3AW.
"Sure enough I got a phone call from my cousin's wife, hysterical.
"I just had a feeling that something wasn't right, it wasn't right at all, and it has come to fruition."
Trevor described the deaths as "just devastating".
"They're not a number, they're a name, they're a family member, they're a friend, they're a cousin, they're an uncle and a brother, or a husband or a wife," he said.
Australian Associated Press
