Body-worn camera footage played in the murder trial of NT police officer Zachary Rolfe shows the fatal shooting of Yuendumu teenager Kumanjayi Walker during an attempted arrest.
WARNING: This article contains the body-worn footage of the shooting shown during the trial.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died.
The photograph of Kumanjayi Walker is used with permission of his family.
Constable Rolfe has pleaded not guilty to murder and two alternative charges over the 19-year-old's death in the community north-west of Alice Springs in November 2019.
Police body-worn camera footage of the shooting was shown at the beginning of Constable Rolfe's trial in the Northern Territory Supreme Court this week, where a suppression order preventing publication of the footage has now been lifted.
The footage shows Constable Rolfe and his partner Constable Adam Eberl entering a home in the community where they were seeking to arrest Mr Walker for breaching a court order.
After Constable Rolfe tells Mr Walker to put his hands behind his back, the teenager stabs Constable Rolfe in the shoulder with a pair of medical scissors and struggles with Constable Eberl.
He is then shot by Constable Rolfe, who fires a second shot 2.6 second later and a third shot 0.5 seconds after that.
The officers took Mr Walker to the police station to continue first aid but he died around an hour later.
Prosecutors have told the court the first shot is not considered unlawful but the second and third shots fired were not legally justified.
The defence team is arguing that Constable Rolfe was acting in good faith and in line with his training, and defending himself and his partner.
Court told Yuendumu sergeant planned 'safer' early morning arrest
The fourth day of the trial heard evidence from the officer-in-charge of the Yuendumu police station on the night of the shooting.
Sergeant Julie Frost told the court about her request for assistance from the Alice Springs-based Immediate Response Team (IRT), members of which — including Constable Rolfe — arrived in the community in the early evening on Saturday, November 9.
The request came three days after local officers were confronted by Mr Walker with an axe when they tried to arrest him for breaching a court order.
Sergeant Frost said she called the IRT to help arrest Mr Walker partly because of "huge resource problems", including that local health staff had evacuated the community and that there had been a spate of recent break-ins.
The court heard that when the IRT arrived, Sergeant Frost outlined a plan to arrest Mr Walker at around 5.30am the following day.
She told the court that plan allowed for the involvement of Aboriginal Community Police Officer Felix Alefaio.
"He had the local knowledge of the community. He also knew Kumanjayi Walker very well," she said.
She said one of the officers asked her what they should do if they came across Mr Walker.
She told the court: "I said by all means lock him up."
Sergeant Frost also said she felt one of the first IRT officers to arrive, Constable James Kirstenfeldt, had not shown her respect.
"I found him to be very dominating," she said.
She said the officers watched body-worn camera footage of the axe incident while at the police station and asked if there were any firearms in the community, to which she said there were very few.
Frost warned teenager 'could have been shot' after axe incident
Sergeant Frost also gave evidence about her response to the earlier effort to arrest Mr Walker, where he threatened two locally-based officers with an axe.
She said she had a "robust" conversation with community elder Lottie Robertson, who is the grandmother of Mr Walker's partner Rekeisha Robertson, and was inside the home where the incident took place.
She said she told Ms Roberston that what Mr Walker had done was very serious.
"I said… it could have resulted in [him] getting shot, or police could've got hurt," she said.
She said she urged Ms Robertson and her partner Eddie Robertson to encourage Mr Walker to hand himself in and that she would prefer to negotiate a "peaceful" arrest.
She said she did not consider Mr Walker a risk to other community members.
However, she later added alerts to his profile on a police database to warn about potential risks towards officers.
"It was something along the lines of, if Walker is to be arrested, (he) may hide weapons in order to facilitate escape," she said.
Lottie Robertson also gave evidence and told the court she felt shaken by the axe incident "because something could happen" and had urged Mr Walker to drop the axe.
Detective tells court officers are trained to fire multiple shots
On Thursday, the court also heard evidence from Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Evan Kelly, who oversaw a separate attempt to find Mr Walker at an Alice Springs town camp the day after the axe incident.
Following questioning from the defence barrister, David Edwardson QC, he told the court he was aware of the police training term "edged blade equals gun", which police witnesses have mentioned throughout the trial.
Acting Senior Sergeant Kelly said it meant that a firearm should be drawn if an offender threatens an officer with an edged weapon.
He also said officers were trained to fire multiple shots if necessary.
"During training we do several scenarios of one-shot drills, two-shot drills, three-shot drills," he said.
"And you reassess and if you have not regained control of the subject then it may be necessary to fire further shots."
Acting Senior Sergeant Kelly said it could take about 1.5 seconds for an officer to identify a risk, draw the firearm and pull the trigger.
He was also asked by the defence barrister what he would do if he knew that a potential arrest target had a violent history.
"On an occasion like that, you would be prepared to draw your Glock [firearm] at a moment's notice," he said.
Under re-examination from the prosecution, he said he would not remove the safety devices on his holster before drawing his gun.
"Normally, it's one fluid motion."
The trial continues tomorrow, when Sergeant Frost is expected to be cross-examined by the defence.
Editor's note 18/02/2022: A previous version of this story said Mr Walker was taken to the police station before officers rendered first aid. It has been updated to make clear that first aid continued at the police station.
