A man has died after being struck by an arrow in the remote Northern Territory community of Peppimenarti overnight, following months of unrest in the region.
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Morrissey said a 36-year-old man was taken to the the local health clinic shortly before midnight "with an arrow wound".
"The male was declared deceased at the clinic," he said.
"An 18-year-old male is now helping us with our enquiries."
Senior Sergeant Morrissey said extra police were now on the ground in the community, including members of the Major Crime Squad and the NT's elite response unit, the Territory Response Group (TRG).
"Police are working with elders, local council and government agencies to maintain community order," he said.
He said police believed the incident was connected to "ongoing disturbances" in the West Daly region, and could not say if alcohol was a factor.
Recent unrest in the region has centred mainly around the remote community of Wadeye, about 90 kilometres from Peppimenarti.
A number of health staff have left the region over the past week due to safety issues and break-ins, sources have told the ABC.
However, a spokesperson for the NT government said "all nursing staff are safe and are still in the community".
'Unprecedented disruption' in the region
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said she had been briefed about the incident by Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker this morning.
"Police have sent more resources out to that community. Additionally, [an] incident management team has been stood up," she said.
"Across-government services are responding to ensure that anything that needs to be provided, can be provided."
Ms Fyles said the West Daly region had seen "unprecedented levels of community disruption of late".
In April, an 18-year-old man was charged with manslaughter over the death of a 32-year-old man in Wadeye, with the incident becoming a trigger point for continued unrest.
More than 100 homes in the community were damaged or destroyed in the weeks that followed, and in July, 25 people were arrested in a single day, with many facing court over "riotous behaviour".
Hundreds of people have been displaced due to the unrest, with many still living in camps and homelands on Wadeye's fringes.
Others have travelled to Darwin.
In May, Northern Territory Senator Malarndirri McCarthy called the ongoing crisis a "humanitarian situation".
Matthew Eastham, the Chief Executive of the West Daly Regional Council, said there has been an "influx" of alcohol in the region, and that council workers are being evacuated from the community.
"We're faced with increased numbers of empty alcohol bottles littered throughout this community," he said.
"We're really concerned about what we think is a high, high proportion of alcohol in the community at the moment.
"We have had a number of issues of violence, unlawful entries and other issues over the last, you know, week.
"We have closed all council services in Peppimenarti until further notice."
