A senior NT police officer who said a constable didn’t need to fire two shots that killed an Indigenous teen is set to appear at an inquest into the death.

November 17, 2022

A senior Northern Territory police officer who criticised a constable after he killed an Indigenous teenager is expected to give evidence at an inquest into the shooting death.

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

Senior Sergeant Andrew Barram, who is scheduled to give evidence on Friday at the Alice Springs inquiry, previously told Const Rolfe’s murder trial he didn’t need to fire the shots that killed the Warlpiri man.

The use-of-force expert reviewed Const Rolfe’s body-worn camera video of the incident for the five-week trial, which concluded with the officer being acquitted.

He told the jury in March that Const Rolfe’s second and third shots into Mr Walker’s torso as he lay on a mattress with another policeman on top of him were not reasonable or necessary.

“Things had changed substantially from when the first shot was fired,” he said from the Northern Territory Supreme Court witness box.

“They had gone from standing in a fairly equal fight … to Mr Walker being shot in the back, which would affect a person in some way, and being pinned on the ground with his right arm under him.”

Mr Walker stabbed Const Rolfe with a pair of scissors while resisting arrest in the seconds before he was shot.

The former officer-in-charge of the NT Police operational safety section, Snr Sgt Barram, also said shots two and three made no difference to the arrest attempt or the tactical situation when Mr Walker fought being placed in handcuffs.

“They, in my opinion, were unnecessary and it does not appear a correct assessment of the situation was made by Mr Rolfe,” he said.

“The scissors were a very low threat at that point. We are taught to be accountable for every shot we fire and the need to assess and reassess after every shot. I believe there were other options available.”

But he said the first shot in Mr Walker’s back was justified because Const Rolfe was confronted at close range with an edged weapon and stabbed in the shoulder.

Const Rolfe and four other officers were sent to the remote Indigenous community to help local officers with general policing duties and arrest Mr Walker at 5.30am on November 10.

But they found the teen about 15 minutes after leaving the Yuendumu police station, where the officer-in-charge handed the men a printed page outlining the morning arrest plan.

Const Rolfe walked into a dark room and shot Mr Walker about a minute later after the teen had lied about his name.

He died about an hour later on the floor of the police station as the officers fought to save his life in the absence of trained medical staff.

The inquest continues on Friday.