The first of Constable Zachary Rolfe’s specialist colleagues has given evidence at his trial for allegedly murdering Aboriginal teen Kumanjayi Walker.

February 16, 2022

The first of Constable Zachary Rolfe’s fellow elite police team members has given evidence at his trial for allegedly murdering Aboriginal teenager Kumanjayi Walker.

Rolfe has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 19-year-old during a failed outback arrest at Yuendumu, 290km northwest of Alice Springs, on November 9, 2019.

The 30-year-old is accused of heavy handed tactics for shooting Mr Walker three times during a scuffle after the teenager stabbed him in the shoulder with scissors.

Fellow ‘response team’ member Constable James Kirstenfeldt said he and Rolfe met the officer-in-charge at Yuendumu police station, Sergeant Julie Frost, soon after arriving in the community.

“We were trying to get information out of her: what we were doing and where he was, what houses he was likely to be at,” the former soldier told the Supreme Court in Darwin.

“What family members are likely to hide him? Who does not like him and would be likely to give him up?”

Constable Kirstenfeldt and Rolfe were soon joined by two other colleagues from the Alice Springs-based team, Adam Eberl and Tony Hawkings, and dog handler Adam Donaldson.

“I was aware by that stage, that there were no nurses in the community,” he said.

“They break into all their houses, and they had all had enough and were scared and left the community.”

Constable Kirstenfeldt denied Sgt Frost had given he, Rolfe and the other team members a printed arrest plan to take Mr Walker into custody at 5.30am the morning after he was shot.

“I believe it was suggested that we go and arrest him at around about 5am,” he said.

He also said Sgt Frost told the team that if it “came across” the teen, to “grab him”.

The team left the briefing with Sgt Frost and 7.06pm and soon found Mr Walker at a nearby home.

Just over a minute later, Rolfe had shot him.

Prosecutors concede the first shot, which was fired while Mr Walker was standing and resisting arrest, was justified.

But it says the fatal second and third shots went “too far”.

Rolfe was sent to the outback community to arrest Mr Walker after he aggressively threatened two other officers with an axe.

Mr Walker died at 8.36pm from injuries sustained by one of those two shots, which the Crown says were not legally justified because Mr Walker was “effectively restrained”.

Constable Kirstenfeldt returns to the witness box on Wednesday.