Coroner finds NT police officer who shot Kumanjayi Walker was racist and can’t rule out that racism played a role in fatal shooting

Elisabeth Armitage arrives to deliver her findings from the coronial inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu, who was shot by former NT police officer Zachary Rolfe in 2019. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Constable Zachary Rolfe was racist and it cannot be ruled out that his attitudes contributed to his conduct on the night he shot and killed Kumanjayi Walker, a coroner has found.

Rolfe shot Walker, a Warlpiri man, three times while trying to arrest him on 9 November 2019 in Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs.