Video of fatal shooting of Kumanjayi Walker by NT police officer Zachary Rolfe

2 years ago
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A police officer charged with murdering an Aboriginal man said “it’s all good, he was stabbing me, he was stabbing you” seconds after the fatal shooting, a court has heard.

Zachary Rolfe, 30, shot dead Kumanjayi Walker in November 2019 while trying to arrest him at the remote community of Yuendumu, 300km north-west of Alice Springs.

Rolfe’s trial started in Darwin on Monday.

The court has heard Rolfe shot Walker three times after he had attempted to arrest him in relation to an outstanding warrant at Walker’s grandmother’s house in Yuendumu.

Walker had been asked to put his hands behind his back by Rolfe only seconds after police entered the property. But instead Walker pulled a pair of medical scissors from his right pocket and brought them down in a stabbing motion into Rolfe’s left shoulder.

Rolfe’s colleague, Constable Adam Eberl, then struggled with Walker, who was shot soon after for the first time by Rolfe, the court heard. The first shot is not subject to any charges.

Zachary Rolfe (centre) arrives at the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in Darwin.Zac Rolfe.
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Prosecutor Philip Strickland SC told the Northern Territory supreme court on Tuesday that as Eberl and Walker struggled on a mattress on the floor, Eberl gained control of Walker. Strickland said Erbel was on top of the 19-year-old Warlpiri man, whose right arm, which had been holding the scissors, was pinned under him.

Rolfe walked across the room, placed his left hand on Eberl’s back, and pressed his right hand, holding his Glock semi-automatic handgun, against the left side of Walker’s body, Strickland said. Rolfe then pulled the trigger twice in quick succession, in what Strickland said on Monday was known as a “double-tap” designed to ensure maximum damage.

It is the second and third shots that are subject to the murder charge. If a jury finds Rolfe not guilty of murder, he faces a charge of manslaughter, and if he is found not guilty of that charge, a further charge of engaging in a violent act causing death. The police officer has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Strickland said that moments after Rolfe shot Walker for the final time, Eberl said to Walker: “Don’t fuck around, I’ll fuckin’ smash ya mate.” But Strickland said Eberl also said to Rolfe, “Did you – fuck”, to which Rolfe responded “It’s all good, he was stabbing me – he was stabbing you”.

Strickland said Rolfe also mentioned that Walker had scissors. But he said the comment about the stabbings could indicate Rolfe knew he had “gone too far”.

“When he said those words, he knew that the shots were not necessary or reasonable,” Strickland said.

“In short: he said those words in order to justify what he had done.”

Strickland also said in his opening to the trial that the jury would hear evidence Rolfe ignored a detailed arrest plan for Walker, and that some officers, including Rolfe, had been critical of previous attempts to arrest him.

He said that after discussions between Walker’s family, the local Yuendumu Sgt Julie Frost, and an Aboriginal community police officer, arrangements were made for Walker to hand himself in after his great uncle’s funeral, on the night of 9 November, 2019. If he did not surrender, Walker was to be arrested the following day at 5am, when it was hoped he was asleep, limiting the chances of a confrontation.

Strickland said Walker had an extensive criminal history including offences relating to the assault of police and escaping custody, and on 6 November 2019 he had threatened two officers with an axe as they tried to arrest him.

His outstanding warrant related to removing an electronic monitoring device and leaving a residential alcohol rehabilitation program, which family members say he had done to attend the funeral.

Rolfe and colleagues based in Alice Springs had viewed footage of the 6 November incident multiple times and were critical of the officers involved, Strickland said.

They had been sent the detailed arrest plan for 10 November, and screenshots of part of it were later found on Rolfe’s phone, while they were en route to Yuendumu on 9 November to assist in the arrest and provide high-visibility police patrols in the context of medical staff leaving town.
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