A policeman has told an inquest into the death of an Indigenous teen shot dead by a Northern Territory constable the 19-year-old wasn’t a “big threat”.

September 8, 2022

An Indigenous teenager shot dead by Northern Territory police during an attempted arrest wasn’t a threat to his remote community, an inquest has been told.

Kumanjayi Walker, 19, died on November 9, 2019, after Constable Zachary Rolfe, 31, shot him three times in the remote community of Yuendumu, 290km northwest of Alice Springs.

Aboriginal community police officer Derek Williams said his nephew Mr Walker was in the community to attend a beloved family member’s funeral and there should have been no rush to arrest him.

“He only ran off from (a rehabilitation program). He wasn’t a murderer,” Mr Williams told the inquest into Mr Walker’s death on Thursday.

“He wasn’t a big threat to nobody. He just wanted to attend the funeral and, you know, police should work that out properly.”

Mr Williams described his nephew as a shy and slow boy, who liked video games and football.

The court also heard Mr Walker’s girlfriend, Rickisha Robertson, was in the process of applying for a domestic violence order against him.

Despite this, Mr Williams said it was an error for Const Rolfe and his team – who had been sent from Alice Springs to relieve exhausted local police – to attempt to arrest Mr Walker on the same day the community was having a funeral.

“You can’t just go into people’s yard when they’re mourning a loss or attending funerals,” he said.

“They can’t just go in and arrest somebody … it’s no-go, you know.

“They’ve got to be respectful. We are all human beings. We need to be treated as human beings.”

He said the Yuendumu community remained deeply affected by Mr Walker’s death to this day.

“We still feel betrayed and we’re still mourning,” he said.

“The community …s gone down and you know, they want government to listen that nothing like this happens again in any remote communities.”

M Williams urged the NT police force to employ more Indigenous officers and for them to be promoted to senior ranks.

He said non-Indigenous officers should also be educated about the culture of the communities they are serving and be respectful of it.

“There’s been officers who’s been coming from Darwin or Alice Springs … they take that hands-on stuff to remote communities which lacks respect,” he said.

“We don’t want all this nonsense about kicking the doors down or grabbing somebody.”

The inquest has heard Mr Williams wasn’t on duty when Const Rolfe and another officer tried to arrest his nephew at his grandmother’s home at 7.21pm.

But Mr Williams rushed to the property in disbelief and hoping he had only been tasered.

“I didn’t go into the house. I just had a peek through the door – blood stains on the mattress and three bullet casings,” he said.

Mr Walker died from his injuries on the police station floor at 8.36pm.

“I was frightened of my safety and my people because what had happened that night and I felt really sad and angry because I lost my nephew,” Mr Williams said when asked how he felt after the shooting.

Mr Williams said law and order in Yuendumu would benefit from residents having a greater say in the running of the community as it had before the Howard government’s 2007 intervention stripped its powers.

“Where they controlled the community before and when there was break-in, we disciplined our kids,” he said.

“Now, we can’t do that because government told us not to.”

He also said the jobs that had been lost after the Intervention legislation was introduced needed to be restored.

“There’s not enough work … We want them working out in the community and get them involved,” he said.

The hearing continues.