‘I shot Walker to save my partner’s life’: Zachary Rolfe

Zachary Rolfe shot Kumanjayi Walker three times because he feared his partner could be killed, his murder trial has heard.

NT Police Constable Zachary Rolfe outside court. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Zachary Rolfe has told the jury in his murder trial he shot Kumanjayi Walker because he feared the Aboriginal teenager was about to kill fellow policeman Adam Eberl.

The young Northern Territory officer fired three times after Walker stabbed him with scissors. He is now facing charges of murder, manslaughter and causing death, to which he has pleaded not guilty. He faces a life sentence if convicted of murder.

Constable Rolfe declined police interviews and has never spoken publicly about the events of November 9, 2019 in Yuendumu. At the NT Supreme Court on Thursday, he told the story in his own words for the first time.

“When I said, ‘Put your hands behind your back’, Kumanjayi started resisting,” he said.

“He raised his arms and started striking me around my head and neck area … Kumanjayi struck me twice on the top of the head in a hammer-fist motion. I thought this was strange because he wasn’t using his knuckles … I looked at his hands, and that was the first point I (identified) that he had a metal blade.”

Constable Rolfe said Walker stabbed him in his left shoulder, and he hit Walker in the face. He then reached for his pistol and realised, “his (Walker’s) left hand was already on my Glock”. “As soon as I saw him (Walker) with a blade, I immediately feared for my life, (and) then I went for my Glock,” he said.

Kumanjayi Walker.

“His hand was on my Glock, and I twisted my hips back with speed, which we’re trained to do, to knock that hand off my Glock.

“As soon as I stepped back, Kumanjayi’s focus turned to (Remote Sergeant Adam) Eberl, and I immediately feared for Eberl’s life. Kumanjayi started stabbing Eberl in the chest and neck area … that’s the impression I got. So I drew my Glock, and when it was safe to fire – still fearing for Eberl’s life – I fired one round into (the) centre-of-seen-mass of Kumanjayi.”

Constable Rolfe and Sergeant Eberl were in Yuendumu as part of a police Immediate Response Team. The jury has heard conflicting evidence about the purpose of their mission. Constable Rolfe said he understood it was solely to arrest Walker.

He said even though sections of what has been called a “safe arrest plan” were found on his phone, he stored the document for a different purpose and never understood that senior officers wanted Walker arrested with a dog handler the next morning.

Constable Rolfe told the NT Supreme Court he acted at all times in accordance with his training and did not believe he was dealing with Kumanjayi Walker upon first encountering a man going by the name of Vernon Dixon. “I didn’t perceive a threat,” he said. “I just believed we were going to have a conversation.”

The jury has heard the first shot Constable Rolfe fired may have been legally justifiable. Shots two and three form the basis of the charges against him. He told the court that from his perception after he fired the first shot, Walker and Sergeant Eberl “fell to the ground and began fighting”.

“I could see Kumanjayi’s right arm with the blade in it still moving and stabbing Constable Eberl on the ground,” he said.

“I believed he still had a lethal weapon and was utilising it against Eberl … I was in fear for my partner’s life, and I needed to incapacitate the threat immediately by the use of my firearm.

“I … placed my left hand on Eberl’s back … I didn’t want him to be thrown or to move back into my line of fire. I then fired two more rounds into Kumanjayi’s centre of mass, at which point I observed his right arm stop trying to stab my partner, at which time I reholstered my Glock.”

Under cross-examination, Constable Rolfe admitted he knew firing two shots at close range in quick succession at the region of Walker’s vital organs could be fatal.

“I knew it would likely cause death or serious harm,” he said.

He denied the shots amounted to a “double-tap” at “point-blank range”.

The court heard that in the months leading up to the Yuendumu incident, Constable Rolfe sought roles with the Territory Response Group (a tactical police unit) and the army Special Air Services Regiment.

“Isn’t it the case that you obtained some excitement, some enjoyment, from being deployed to higher-risk situations?” prosecutor Philip Strickland SC asked.

“I wouldn’t call it excitement,” Constable Rolfe replied.

Three days before the shooting, Walker threatened two Yuendumu officers with an axe. Constable Rolfe has accused fellow police of sweeping the incident “under the rug”. On Thursday, he clarified that he meant the two Walker threatened “greatly downplayed the actual incident” in their subsequent reports.

“How were you able to assess that if you weren’t there?” Mr Strickland asked.

Constable Rolfe said it was by watching the officers’ body-worn video footage. He acknowledged being “highly motivated” to watch it “multiple times” and urging superior officers to deploy the IRT (of which he was a part) to arrest Walker.

“You wanted to be part of a mission to track down Kumanjayi Walker … you wanted to be part of that deployment, didn’t you?” Mr Strickland asked.

“I was indifferent,” Constable Rolfe replied. “If I got called up, I would have accepted.”

He did get the call-up and is now facing a murder charge.

The trial continues.