The NT policeman who led an elite team in an Indigenous community after a teen was shot dead has told an inquest other officers in charge were struggling.

October 27, 2022

The commander of an elite Northern Territory tactical police unit has told an inquest into the death of Indigenous teenager he was surprised to find an inexperienced officer in charge of the force’s response to the incident.

Kumanjayi Walker, 19, died after Constable Zachary Rolfe shot him three times during a bungled arrest in Yuendumu, northwest of Alice Springs on November 9, 2019.

An Alice Springs inquest into his death heard on Wednesday that after the shooting the NT’s tactical response group was called to the remote community amid fears its police station could be overrun by rioters.

The unit’s commander at the time, Sergeant Meacham King, told the coroner that when he arrived he found the officer sent from Alice Springs to control the police response to the shooting, Sergeant Terry Zhang, was struggling.

“He was looking for some guidance … I encouraged him to take notes as he was little unsure how to do it and I said to him … ‘this is the biggest thing this organisation has seen in 17 years (since the last police shooting resulting in a death)’,” the veteran policeman said.

“There was nothing that gave me ‘oh good, I’ve got a guy who’s been exposed to some of this’. Straight away I knew he was underprepared probably from lack of experience.”

Sgt King warned that there would be high level scrutiny into the incident and how police responded to it.

He agreed with counsel assisting Patrick Coleridge that he expected to find a more experienced police officer in charge at Yuendumu.

“I was a little bit surprised with the seriousness of what we had why we hadn’t sent out someone more senior to control it,” he said.

Sgt King said he also observed that Yuendumu’s local police officers were in an “uneasy state” when his team arrived.

“When I saw (the officer in charge) Sergeant Frost you could see she was heavily affected by the situation,” the veteran policeman said.

“You could just see she was upset. You know when you look at someone and you can just see they’re not coping.

“I couldn’t get good clear communication from her … She was a bit all over the place.”

The inquest continues on Thursday.