Indigenous man shot at Yuendumu by police

An Aboriginal man in the Northern Territory community of Yuendumu has died after a police shooting.

A road sign points to nearby Yuendumu.

Police have confirmed that a 19-year-old man has died after being shot by officers in the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu on Saturday.

Eye witnesses described seeing a violent struggle involving several police and an unarmed victim. They named the victim as local Aboriginal man Arnold Walker.

Reports began to emerge on Saturday evening that the victim had died, but Yuendumu residents said police were not providing information and authorities declined to answer questions from the media.

Ayeetta Dixon, a relative of Mr Walker, said his family had concluded for themselves that the young man had died after ringing the hospital and being told he was not a patient.

“There’s a lot of family here. We were ringing all night,” Ms Dixon said.

“The police wouldn’t tell us nothing.”

Yuendumu, knows as North Camp, is a remote community 290km northwest of Alice Springs. Locals said one of Mr Walker’s grandmothers had buried a son at a funeral earlier in the afternoon.

A short statement posted to the NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services Facebook page on Saturday night said officers were responding to “a critical in the community of Yuendumu where a man has been shot by police”.

“The man is believed to be in a critical condition and is receiving medical attention,” the statement said.

Otto Sims, an artist and respected community figure, said all nurses had left the community and the clinic been closed before the shooting occurred.

Mr Sims said an ambulance had had to be sent from a neighbouring community about two hours’ drive from Yuendumu, raising questions about the quality of medical care the victim might have received.

He added that the man had been taken to Yuendumu police station following the shooting and that officers did not establish a crime scene but rather remained inside the station and refused to engage with family members.

A police spokesman declined to answer questions and told media not to visit the community about 300km northwest of Alice Springs and home to about 1000 people.

Locals described seeing police cars speeding through the streets of Yuendumu shortly before hearing gunshots.

Aleetta Dixon said six officers, four of them armed, arrived at the North Camp house.

“We watched them jam him [Walker] in the corner. We heard three shots. Then they dragged him out of the place and chucked him in the back of a paddy wagon,” Ms Dixon said.

“We were right there next to them [the officers].”

Elizabeth Snape said she had also witnessed the incident.

“They came with two police cars; one parked on the other side of the house,” Ms Snape said.

“They questioned me, asked me where he was. They found him there, they put him in against the front door, but the wall part.

“He tried to fight off their restraints … three gunshots went off.”

Ms Snape also described seeing officers “drag” the man out after he had been shot.

Mr Sims said residents were horrified by the shooting and predicted it would shake locals’ faith in justice.

“It’s terrible, it’s like straight out of black negro America,” Mr Sims said.

“Going about town like that shooting black men in the 21st century is not on.

“The Warlpiri people are staunch believers in the law. Now, we’ve got this. We won’t have any faith in the police any more.”

Mr Sims said community leaders were advising everyone to remain calm but there were fears violence could break out. He said Yuendumu residents were traumatised.

“It brings back memories of how people got shot in the frontier wars,” he said.

“Now that’s gone, and people have reconciled. But we still have it in our DNA that that’s what we went through.”

He said people who had visited the scene after the shooting had seen a pool of blood and three shell casings on the floor.