A Northern Territory policeman accused of murdering an Aboriginal teenager during a failed arrest attempt ignored a senior officer’s orders, the Crown says.

February 8, 2022

A Northern Territory policeman accused of murdering an Aboriginal teenager during a failed arrest attempt ignored a senior officer’s instructions, a jury has been told.

Constable Zachary Rolfe, 30, has pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court in Darwin to the shooting murder of Kumanjayi Charles Arnold Walker on November 9, 2019.

The 19-year-old died after he was shot three times during in the remote community of Yuendumu, 290km northwest of Alice Springs.

Prosecutor Philip Strickland SC told the trial on Tuesday that Rolfe and his fellow officers received two briefings about their “mission”.

The first was in Alice Springs as they prepared their weapons, including an AR-15 assault rifle, Glock semi-automatic pistols, Tasers and shotgun that fired bean bag rounds.

The men also met a senior officer at Yuendumu police station about 6.30pm, when he told them to provide a highly visible presence in the community and “gather intelligence” in preparation to arrest Mr Walker about 5am the next morning.

“The accused and other (officers) chose to ignore that plan,” Mr Strickland said.

“When they left the police station at 7.06pm they were intent on arresting him that evening.”

The group then moved house to house in the desert community of about 800 before arriving at “house 511” at 7.20pm to “clear it”.

About a minute later Rolfe fired his first shot after finding Mr Walker inside and attempting to arrest him with another officer, which the teenager struggled against.

It hit Mr Walker in the back but did not kill him and he continued to wrestle with the officers while holding a pair of medical scissors in his right hand.

Mr Strickland said when Rolfe fired two more shots from “point-blank” range 2.6 seconds later Mr Walker was held down and his right arm was beneath him.

“The situation had changed dramatically,” he said.

“The accused stood over Kumanjayi Walker whilst he was pinned down … and fired again, this time into his left torso.

“About 0.5 seconds after the second shot the accused fired a third time.”

The men then handcuffed Mr Walker who called out for his mother and moaned.

As he did so Rolfe told his partner: “He was stabbing me. He was stabbing you”.

Rolfe had a “small puncture wound” to his left shoulder.

Mr Strickland suggested to the jury that Rolfe may have said those words “because he knew he had gone too far”.

“He knew the shots were not necessary or reasonable. He knew everything he had done was captured on the body worn video,” he said.

“In short he said those words to justify what he’d done.”

Mr Walker died at 8.36pm after the officers had moved him to the local police station and “done the best they could” with first aid.

Either the second or third shots “fatally damaged” his spleen, kidney and right lung.

“He intended to kill Kumanjayi Walker, or cause him serious harm,” Mr Strickland said of Rolfe.

“There was no legal justification.”

About a week before he died, Mr Walker removed an electronic monitoring device and fled an Alice Springs alcohol rehabilitation centre so he could attend a relative’s funeral.

He also threatened police in Yuendumu with an axe as he ran from them after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Other officers had spoken to senior community members who told them Mr Walker would hand himself in after the funeral.

The trial continues.