A friend of a friend sent Charlie Huynh a video on Wednesday night of the police shooting a man dead outside a florist at Central Station.
It wasn't until hours later that police knocked on the door of his family's home in Heckenberg to break the news that the man in the video was Mr Huynh's half brother, Danukul Mokmool.
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'An innocent young bloke': Central shooting
The half brother of Danukul Mokmool, who was fatally shot by police at Central Station, watched the video of his brothers' shooting without knowing who it was.
On Thursday, Mr Huynh said his family was upset and heartbroken but not angry that Mr Mokmool, known as Dan, was shot.
"I don't know why [they would] shoot a man that was just holding scissors but ... it was a weapon at the end of the day," he said.
Mr Mokmool was shot dead by police just before 6.45pm on Wednesday after officers responded to reports of an armed robbery.
Eddy Avenue Florist owner Emmanuel Theoharis said the man came into the flower shop and held a broken bottle to his throat.
Mr Theoharis managed to get away before Mr Mokmool picked up a pair of scissors, yelling "call the police, call the police," Mr Theoharis said.
Footage shows Mr Mokmool then running at police officers, who shot the 30-year-old up to four times from close range. He died at the scene.
Mr Huynh said he watched the footage of the confrontation on Wednesday night, unaware it was Mr Mokmool, his half-brother.
"A friend of a friend of mine sent to our group a video and it was clear everything was perfect and I sort of saw an Asian character and I thought 'oh wow, the cops actually shot him'," he said.
"Little did I know that it ended up being my brother after all. It was pretty devastating to hear it was my brother."
His mother was flying to Australia from Thailand immediately while his aunt broke into tears when police delivered the news.
Little did I know that it ended up being my brother after all. It was pretty devastating to hear it was my brother.
Charlie Huynh
"They're not angry but more upset [at] the fact that it happened but ... now he has a better life to live."
He said Mr Mokmool had done stints in prison and went to a Liverpool mental health facility daily for unspecified treatment.
He said his half-brother used to work as a factory packer but was recently staying at home a lot, playing on computers and studying at TAFE to fulfil a dream of working with computers.
Mr Huynh said he didn't know why his half-brother was in the city on Wednesday night.
"All I know is that if he has something on his mind he will disappear and he ended up in the city I guess," he said.
His half-brother would often lash out verbally but rarely physically, he said.
"He will have a go here and there but nothing too serious like this," Mr Huynh said.
"To be honest ... he was more verbal ... this has shocked my whole family and shocked me."
Mr Huynh said despite his half-brother's troubles he was a "lovely" guy who he looked up to.
"It is devastating to hear that he has left this life pretty early," he said.
Mr Mokmool's death is now the subject of a critical incident investigation headed by the homicide squad.
Their investigation will then be subject to an independent review with all information provided to the Coroner.