An inquest into the death of Indigenous teen Kumanjayi Walker fatally shot by a NT police constable will try to find answers for his grieving family.

September 5, 2022

An inquest into the death of an Indigenous teenager fatally shot by a Northern Territory police officer during an outback arrest gone wrong will try to find answers for his grieving family.

Warlpiri man Kumanjayi Walker, 19, died on November 9, 2019, after Constable Zachary Rolfe, 30, shot him three times in Yuendumu, 290km northwest of Alice Springs.

The inquest starting in Alice Springs Local Court on Monday will explore actions of police before and after Mr Walker was killed and how his death has affected his community.

Const Rolfe was acquitted at trial in March of murdering the teen, igniting grief and anger in Yuendumu, with some community members decrying the justice system as racist.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has previously said the hearing would provide an opportunity for Mr Walker’s family’s voices to be heard and answers the trial didn’t.

She said it would also give the community a chance to express their sadness, concerns and hopes for the future.

“We will endeavour to not simply hear them, but understand them,” she told a directions hearing soon after Const Rolfe’s trial.

“In a fair and balanced way, we will seek to better understand what happened … and why it happened, with the goals of determining the truth and making recommendations that may assist in preventing future deaths in similar circumstances.”

Ms Armitage had planned to start the inquest at Yuendumu but the two-day sitting was cancelled last month amid rising tensions.

Counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer said the community was in a “state of high conflict” and members didn’t feel comfortable having outsiders, including journalists, spending time there.

The three-month hearing will also probe whether Mr Walker received adequate medical treatment after Const Rolfe fired three shots into his torso from close range as the pair and another officer scuffled inside the teen’s grandmother’s home.

Mr Walker had stabbed the officer in the moments before and threatened two other policemen with an axe three days earlier as he escaped being arrested and fled into the bush.

He died on the floor of the local police station about an hour after Const Rolfe’s second shot ripped through his spleen, lung, liver and a kidney.