A police witness has told the murder trial of Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe that Kumanjayi Walker was still struggling with another officer — after Mr Walker had stabbed Constable Rolfe — when the 19-year-old was fatally shot.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Constable Rolfe, 30, is facing trial over the shooting of Mr Walker during an attempted arrest in the remote community of Yuendumu on the evening of Saturday, November 9, 2019.
He has pleaded not guilty to murder, as well as to the alternative charges of manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death.
On day nine of the trial, the Northern Territory Supreme Court heard from another member of the police unit who went looking for Mr Walker in Yuendumu on the evening of the shooting.
Senior Constable Anthony Hawkings told the court he was standing outside the home where Constable Rolfe and his partner had located Mr Walker when he heard a gun shot and ran to the front door of the house.
“I could see inside the doorway and there was a struggle going on between three people, and there were people outside the house that I could hear and see, yelling,” he said.
Vision from Senior Constable Hawkings' body-worn camera was played in court as he gave evidence.
He said that, after arriving at the front door of the house, he saw Constable Rolfe struggling with Mr Walker, who was on a mattress with another officer, Constable Adam Eberl.
"Within that few seconds … I remember seeing [Constable Rolfe] holding a firearm in his right hand and … [pointing it] at the subject [who] was on the ground, struggling," he said.
Senior Constable Hawkings said he then saw Constable Rolfe fire two more shots.
Asked by the prosecution how close the firearm was from Mr Walker, Senior Constable Hawkings said: "I knew that the proximity would have been extremely close, within a foot. Very, very close, or closer."
He described Mr Walker's position on the mattress at that time as "potentially prone or on his side … but struggling".
"It was in a split second. There's a fair bit of movement happening at that time."
Prosecutors have previously told the court that Mr Walker was "effectively restrained" when Constable Rolfe fired the second and third shots during the arrest attempt, while the defence has argued Mr Walker was not under the officers' control.
Constable tells court he can't recall emailed arrest plan
The prosecution also pressed Senior Constable Hawkings on his recollection of events at the Yuendumu police station, where his specialist police unit gathered after arriving in the community between around 6:30 and 7pm.
Previously, the court was told the Alice Springs-based immediate response team (IRT) was sent to Yuendumu to help with general duties as well as Mr Walker's arrest, after Mr Walker had confronted local officers with an axe during an arrest attempt three days earlier.
Asked if he had seen an email detailing a plan to arrest Mr Walker the following morning at 5am, Senior Constable Hawkings said he could not recall.
The court has previously heard the early-morning arrest plan was developed by Yuendumu officer-in-charge, Sergeant Julie Frost, because it was considered a safer time to carry out the operation.
Asked by the prosecution whether he had made any notes about the incident, Senior Constable Hawkings told the court he jotted down his arrival time in a notebook.
However, he told the court, he no longer has the notebook and that it had gone missing.
NT Police Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst also gave evidence in court, saying had given verbal approval to Superintendent Jody Nobbs to deploy the IRT members.
Assistant Commissioner Wurst told the court the IRT was chosen because its members could be deployed at short notice to provide general support to fatigued officers in Yuendumu.
He said the team was also being sent to allow "for the development of a plan" to arrest Mr Walker, potentially through a negotiated surrender with the assistance of family members.
Assistant Commissioner Wurst told the court he knew about Mr Walker's involvement in the axe incident three days earlier, but did not consider it to be a "high-risk" deployment for the IRT.
Adopted mother of Mr Walker gives evidence
Mr Walker’s adopted mother, Leanne Oldfield, was one of two family members to also give evidence on Thursday.
She said she was sitting in the doorway of the house where the shooting took place, with Mr Walker, just before police arrived that evening.
Ms Oldfield said that family members were looking at an old photo together and laughing.
Shortly after Mr Walker went inside the house, she said, she saw armed police walking "very quickly" towards the property.
Mr Walker's aunt, Louanna Williams, told the court she had chatted to Mr Walker in Yuendumu at some point after the axe incident and before the day of the shooting.
She said he had told her he "never meant to hurt anybody" during the axe incident, and just wanted to get out of the house when police were trying to arrest him.
Ms Williams said Mr Walker also told her he wanted to be arrested after his uncle's funeral on November 9, "because he knew he was in trouble", she said.
The trial will continue before Justice John Burns tomorrow.
