The police officer who killed Indigenous teenager Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 was “racist” and had an “attraction” to adrenaline-style policing, a coroner’s inquest has found.
Walker, 19, died shortly after he was shot three times at close range by Constable Zachary Rolfe during a home arrest in Yuendumu, a remote Indigenous community in the Northern Territory (NT).
Rolfe – no longer a policeman – was charged with Walker’s murder and acquitted in 2022, sparking protests about Indigenous deaths in custody.
In delivering her findings, Judge Elisabeth Armitage said Walker’s death was “avoidable” and there was “clear evidence of entrenched, systemic and structural racism” within NT’s police force.
Judge Armitage handed down a summary of her findings – more than 600 pages – at an open-air presentation in Yuendumu, about 300km (190 miles) north-west of Alice Springs on Monday.
She found that “Rolfe was racist and that he worked in and was the beneficiary of an organisation with hallmarks of institutional racism”.
Rolfe was “not a case of one bad apple”, she said, finding that racist language and behaviour was “normalised within the Alice Springs police station”.
While she could not “say with certainty that Mr Rolfe’s racist attitudes” contributed to Walker’s death, “I cannot exclude that possibility”, she told those gathered at the presentation, which included members of Walker’s family.
In addition, Rolfe’s “derisive attitudes” toward female colleagues and some superiors, as well as his “contempt for bush cops”, may have influenced his actions the day he shot Walker, Judge Armitage found.
On 9 November 2019, Rolfe and another officer arrived at Walker’s home in Yuendumu to arrest him for breaching a court order.
Three days earlier, police had tried to arrest Walker and he had threatened them with an axe.
Walker was a “vulnerable teenager” who had a history of trauma and “poor impulse control”, Judge Armitage found, noting that police should have been “on notice” to avoid another confrontation.
During Rolfe’s Supreme Court trial in 2022, the court heard the officers became involved in a scuffle with Walker about one minute after arriving at his home.
Walker stabbed Rolfe’s shoulder with a pair of scissors, prompting Rolfe to shoot him without warning – a move that Rolfe’s lawyers said was in self-defence. Prosecutors agreed.
Seconds later, Rolfe fired two more shots at Walker. Prosecutors argued these were not necessary, while the defence said they were because Rolfe feared for his colleague’s safety.
In her findings, Judge Armitage found that Rolfe made a “series of flawed decisions” that led to “officer-induced jeopardy” – a situation where police “needlessly put themselves in danger… creating a situation that justifies the use of deadly force”.
She also said Rolfe – a former soldier – found combat situations “exhilarating” and had an “attraction to adrenalin policing”. He had also ignored an arrest plan for Walker created by a female officer because he “thought he knew better”, Judge Armitage said.
After Walker was shot, officers dragged him out of the house before taking him to the police station, where he was given first aid. He later died.
“Dragging is a disrespectful act and it should not have happened,” Judge Armitage said.
She made 32 recommendations, including developing “mutual respect agreements” to limit when police carry guns in the Yuendumu community, and for police’s anti-racism strategy to be strengthened, targeted and made public, and for compliance with its measures be publicly reported.
As she finished her one-hour speech, Judge Armitage thanked those who took part in the inquest and to Walker’s family.
“I am sorry for your profound loss,” she said.
Walker’s cousin Samara Fernandez-Brown said the report was “overwhelming” and the family would assess the recommendations, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
In a statement, NT Police said the inquest had been a “long and painful journey for all involved”.
“This has been a hard road, and we are determined to ensure that what has been learned is not lost,” said acting commissioner Martin Dole.
A coroner’s inquest into Walker’s death was launched in 2022. Under NT law, all deaths in custody must be investigated. The findings are not legally binding.
