‘War zone’: shotguns, crossbows and axes used in NT rampage near Daly River
An attack on a Northern Territory community, which sent terrified residents running for their lives from shotgun blasts, left people savagely beaten, shot with arrows and homes torched, has sparked fears of retaliation | WATCH
An armed attack last week on a remote Northern Territory community that sent terrified residents fleeing from shotgun blasts and left homes torched has sparked fears of retaliation and an all-out war between rival family groups.
The tiny community of Nauiyu on the Daly River, three hours south of Darwin, was attacked last week by up to 25 people armed with various weapons – including shotguns, axes and crossbows – who had driven into the community and set homes and vehicles alight, with locals describing the town, population 350, as a “war zone”.
One person allegedly fired the shotgun at a group of people, with video obtained by The Australian showing residents, including children, running for their lives as shots erupt behind them.
One man can be heard yelling “gun, gun, gun” as smoke billows into the sky in the distance.
One stolen car was paraded through the community before being smashed into a home and set on fire, an eight-month-old baby apparently inside, although it had safely escaped when police arrived.
Police say four people attended the local clinic to have pellets removed from their skin. Another man was pictured with an arrow piercing his abdomen and protruding from his back.
Yet another video shows a group of five girls in their teens and early 20s smashing down a door and savagely beating a woman with their fists.
She falls to the floor, defenceless, while they continue to stomp and beat her. Locals say the victim had made comments online about a deceased male.
“There’s a war zone in Australia that no one knows about,” said one local, too scared to be identified. It is a commonly used term in the NT, but it had greater resonance last week, with the community at breaking point and bracing for the violence to return.
Elder Mark Casey, the oldest living Indigenous man in the area, said what happened on Tuesday last week first started after a dispute over a local footy grand final several years ago, with social media exacerbating tensions.
“They kept on fighting, it just escalated to what it is now, and now we’re here,” he said.
“It’d simmer and then someone would put something on social media, and then its off again,” the 73-year-old said.
“This community was built by people in the 1950s and ’60s; the old people have died out and it means nothing to young people.
“Hardly anybody works in this community, they’ve got nothing else to do than get on Facebook and sling crap at one another. And that’s what starts these wars.”
The retired Aboriginal community police officer of almost 23 years said seeing the destruction and violence in his community was a “crying shame”.
“To see the community being destroyed in such a short time, in the space of three years … it breaks my heart. People don’t want to come here because of what’s happening,” he said.
“It’s a crying shame to see what they are doing to what was once a thriving, prosperous community where people looked after each other.
“There’s no respect for traditional customs or traditional law. These kids get offered jobs, but they won’t go. The government tells them they don’t have to work because they’re getting Centrelink,” he said.
“They get paid not to work, there is no incentive for people to work in this community, it’s plain as that.
“They get their money, they go down to the pub, they acquire their gunga (marijuana). And ice is starting to rear its ugly head too,” he said.
Some locals have fled Daly River and almost all are too scared to speak publicly for fear of retribution from the outlaw gang.
“These Jovi Boys have been out of control for months and months; it’s not even safe for us to go down to the river fishing at night time,” one local said.
The local, who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution, said members of the gang travel to Darwin to steal cars then return to the community.
“It is out of control. They drive them back here and burn them out, and it’s just been getting more and more unsafe,” the person said.
“This is the worst, I’ve never seen anything like this before. People are too scared to come out of their houses, the community is a ghost town after what happened last week.
“We’re in the middle of the Northern Territory, it’s the most beautiful place you can be, but it’s the wild west out here. It’s always been not good out here, but what happened on Tuesday, everybody needs to see it,” they said.
Two sources on the ground said locals had made multiple triple-0 calls in the weeks leading to Tuesday’s peak but police didn’t act. “I guess those families felt unsupported by police and eventually took matters into their own hands by calling in Jovi boys,” one person said.
When questioned last week, NT Minister for Police Brent Potter said police attending a land clearing protest took up resources and the Territory Safety Division could have been redeployed sooner had they not been occupied.
“Because people want to behave badly at a development site that has full approval, we have to put additional police there to support those security guards,” he said.
“So if you want to get more resources to West Daly, maybe the protesters at Lee Point could go back to work, and go and do other things, and get those resources out there.”
Extra police resources have now been moved in from Adelaide River, Pine Creek and Katherine.
The Territory Response Group has also been present in the town.
Six men aged between 18 and 24 – including the man accused of firing the shotgun – have been arrested.
Acting Superintendent Erica Gibson said she was astonished there were no serious injuries.
“Community disagreements and familial conflict is no excuse for wanton destruction and aggravated assault,” Superintendent Gibson said.
“Everyone within the Victoria River Region is tired of this behaviour and the small cohort that continues to perpetuate it.”
Superintendent Gibson said police were “holding meetings with traditional owners, elders, community members and other stakeholders to help facilitate calm within the region.
