- Dec 27, 2016
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"The 19-year-old, who for cultural reasons is now known as Kumanjayi Walker."
One week ago, Mr Walker was shot by police in his home.
The police have said officers went there to arrest him for a breach of the conditions of his suspended sentence.
The first call came just before 8:00pm on Saturday. A former Yuendumu resident rang ABC reporter Steven Schubert to tell him police had shot a young man and community residents couldn't find out what happened.
A call to police confirmed the basic details: a young man had been shot by police and was in a critical condition.
The situation was complicated due to no near medical facility that could deal with his injuries and as word began to filter out in the community, they started to gather around the police station.
"When we heard what happened, the police were already on their way to the police station and they locked themselves in there," he said.
"That's when we started to get angry, and wailing, and crying.
"We tried to make them [the police] come and talk to us. They wouldn't come out, they just looked at us from the window. We want to know what happened."
Police locked themselves inside the police station with the 19-year-old and turned off the interior lights.
The local Yuendumu clinic was unstaffed that night — it had been evacuated the same day due to safety concerns related to break-ins.
The general manager for primary health in central Australia, David Reeve, has since explained that on the night before the shooting, three staff houses had been broken into while staff were inside.
"At the same time several of our cars had been smashed with rocks and broken into, so our staff were very scared, so we thought it's best in that time to put our staff back into Alice Springs just until things calmed down," Mr Reeves said.
"You're late, you're f***ing late," came a voice from the crowd as an ambulance pulled into the Yuendumu police station about 8:30pm.
The NT Health Department said the two health workers who arrived from Yuelamu were later injured when rocks were thrown at their ambulance.
In incredibly complicated circumstances, NT Police has since charged one of its officers — 28-year-old Constable Zachary Rolfe — with one count of murder.
Three bullets fired. 10 hours in the dark. The Yuendumu police shooting as it happened
The hours after the Yuendumu police shooting were filled in separate parts by anguish, silence and unrest. Here's what we know about how those hours unfolded.
www.abc.net.au
One week ago, Mr Walker was shot by police in his home.
The police have said officers went there to arrest him for a breach of the conditions of his suspended sentence.
The first call came just before 8:00pm on Saturday. A former Yuendumu resident rang ABC reporter Steven Schubert to tell him police had shot a young man and community residents couldn't find out what happened.
A call to police confirmed the basic details: a young man had been shot by police and was in a critical condition.
The situation was complicated due to no near medical facility that could deal with his injuries and as word began to filter out in the community, they started to gather around the police station.
"When we heard what happened, the police were already on their way to the police station and they locked themselves in there," he said.
"That's when we started to get angry, and wailing, and crying.
"We tried to make them [the police] come and talk to us. They wouldn't come out, they just looked at us from the window. We want to know what happened."
Police locked themselves inside the police station with the 19-year-old and turned off the interior lights.
The local Yuendumu clinic was unstaffed that night — it had been evacuated the same day due to safety concerns related to break-ins.
The general manager for primary health in central Australia, David Reeve, has since explained that on the night before the shooting, three staff houses had been broken into while staff were inside.
"At the same time several of our cars had been smashed with rocks and broken into, so our staff were very scared, so we thought it's best in that time to put our staff back into Alice Springs just until things calmed down," Mr Reeves said.
"You're late, you're f***ing late," came a voice from the crowd as an ambulance pulled into the Yuendumu police station about 8:30pm.
The NT Health Department said the two health workers who arrived from Yuelamu were later injured when rocks were thrown at their ambulance.
Three bullets fired. 10 hours in the dark. The Yuendumu police shooting as it happened
The hours after the Yuendumu police shooting were filled in separate parts by anguish, silence and unrest. Here's what we know about how those hours unfolded.
www.abc.net.au
In incredibly complicated circumstances, NT Police has since charged one of its officers — 28-year-old Constable Zachary Rolfe — with one count of murder.