Canberra-born police Constable Zachary Rolfe has been charged with murder
The police officer charged with murdering an Aboriginal man in the Northern Territory is the ‘hero’ son of a prominent Canberra family.
Canberra Star
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A Canberra-born police officer from a prominent family has been charged with murder after he shot a man in the far-flung town Northern Territory town of Yuendumu.
Constable Zachary Rolfe, 28, the son of prominent Canberra business identities and philanthropists Robert and Debbie Rolfe, was on Wednesday night charged with murder.
He had led a short but decorated career as a Northern Territory Police officer until Saturday, when he allegedly shot Kumunjayi Walker, 19, in Yuendumu.
Constable Rolfe a former star pupil at Canberra Grammar, joined the NT Police force in 2016.
The general manager of Mr Rolfe’s Audi dealership, Nicholas Watman, on Wednesday said the family had been told not to comment until after investigations were over.
Mr Rolfe had taken time off work and would be keeping a low profile in coming weeks in support of his son, Mr Watman said.
An NT Police spokesman said the agency was supporting Constable Rolfe and his family this week.
The spokesman said the family were “very upset” and had been advised not to comment publicly.
It’s understood Constable Rolfe left the Northern Territory in the wake of the shooting, following death threats.
Constable Rolfe is well respected among his current and former colleagues, one of whom told the Canberra Star on Wednesday the incident amounted to a “worst nightmare” scenario for all frontline police.
In a statement on Wednesday night, the Northern Territory Police Association said: “The Northern Territory Police Association is continuing to support our member who has this evening been charged with murder, as well as his family, and all other officers involved in the critical incident at Yuendumu.”
“The officer who has been charged is being provided all appropriate legal advice and support at this difficult time.”
In 2016, within days of being graduating from the police college, while a probationary constable, Constable Rolfe saved the lives of two tourists who had been swept into floodwaters in Alice Springs.
His efforts that day earned him the National Bravery Medal, the Royal Humane Society’s Clarke Medal for bravery and the Hong Kong government’s Bronze Medal for Bravery, the first time Hong Kong authorities have awarded the city-state’s highest bravery award to a foreigner for an act performed outside of Hong Kong.
The incident this week has become a flashpoint for long-running tensions between police and residents in some Aboriginal communities.
In 2002, a fatal NT Police shooting in the remote community of Wadeye attract national attention with the killing of Robert Jongmin by then-Senior Constable Robert Whittington.
Then-Senior Constable Whittington was initially charged with murder, but a technical blunder by prosecutors saw an attempt to take him to trial on downgraded charges fail.
He was never found guilty or convicted or any criminal wrongdoing and most recently held the rank of sergeant in a desk job at Katherine.