Witnesses speak out about major police incident in Gray

The man shot by police earlier today has been described as someone with “his head screwed on right”, as police move into Ascension Park to conduct an investigation. SEE PICTURES FROM THE SCENE

GRAY resident Aunty C said she would be holding a smoking ceremony at the site of the alleged police shooting.

The community member said she had been with the man, who was allegedly shot by police, only last night.

She described him as a “good boy” with “his “head screwed on right.”

She said was on the street when she heard multiple gunshots on Tuesday morning.

“I heard them. Bang. Bang. Bang. I didn’t know it was him though,” she said through choked tears.

She broke down as she thought of him.

“Our kids are being killed by the people who are meant to serve and protect,” Auntie C said.

“We can’t keep burying our kids, they should be burying us”.

Auntie C said she would be holding a smoking ceremony this afternoon.

“As a mother, as an Auntie, as an Indigenous woman in the community this is what we need to do.”

Sixteen police officers have just entered Ascension Park in Grey and appear to be coordinating door knocks and scene investigations.

MOULDEN MOTHER’S TEARS

Tears welled as a Moulden mother-of-six described the pain of yet another young Indigenous man shot by police.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, said she had “goosebumps “ thinking about the suspected police shooting.

“These shootings have to stop,” she said.

“It may be his mistake but no one should be shot down.”

Her auntie quietly interrupted her with an update on the young man’s condition in hospital.

“That’s someone’s child,” the woman said as tears rolled down her cheek.

“There was no need for that.”

As the woman spoke her young kids were watching Bluey and Teletubbies in the background. She glanced back at them as she spoke about the fear after another Indigenous shooting by police.

The Moulden woman said she would be holding her children tightly today.

“I have to be ok,” she said.

“I have six kids so I have to just kiss them and hold them close.”

While his condition was still critical, she said the latest shooting reflected a horrific trend in the NT.

“There’s been too many deaths in custody.”

“We’re fighting for justice around the world, but it’s never going to stop.”

She said she had connections to the housing block, informally known as Sin City.

She said there would be older residents unable to access supplies and terrified young kids inside the complex, currently locked down by police.

She asked what would have happened if police had hit a bystander, or a child from the complex.

Gray resident Geoffrey Moffat said he heard about the shooting on his morning walk.

Mr Moffatt said members of Sin City were aware of what had occurred and were clearly distressed by the news.

He said an older man he spoke to has heard multiple shots and was visibly “shaken” by the news.

Residents in the area have been heard yelling “gun happy dogs”.

Where the alleged police shooting of a young Aboriginal man happen in Palmerston suburb of Gray. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

A description of the scene

An empty children’s playground sits just metres from the first evidence marker in an alleged police shooting at Palmerston.

The sunburnt swings and slides of Ascension Park currently neighbour a crime scene.

A line of police tape and officers mark where a young Indigenous man was allegedly shot by police.

Police markers are out on the path where the alleged police shooting of a young Aboriginal man happen in Palmerston suburb of Gray. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

A line of 19 large orange cones blocked off Victoria parade alongside a traffic control worker and police officer, warning local residents of the no-go zone ahead.

The two police the road and keep a watchful eye while they redirect traffic with their army of orange traffic cones.

The pathway which runs parallel with the road has red and white striped tape which states ‘restricted area keep out’, cutting off any pedestrians from entering.

A police caravan has appeared close to the centre of the crime scene where NT News suspects the incident unfolded.

Officers in, and out of uniform, gather to piece together what may have occurred early this morning.

Marked and unmarked police cars continue to patrol the area.

Investigators are scouring the area and taking photographs under the brutally hot early March sun.

‘Terrified’: Witness accounts from police shooting

A CLOSE family member of the man who have been shot and wished to remain anonymous was in the area to “see what was going on”.

“I’m really stressed out about it, I don’t know what’s gone on with him,” they said.

“I’m just concerned for his welfare now and I hope he gets out of hospital alright so we can hear his story — he’s the only one that knows the real story.”

A nearby resident to the scene, Paul was on the phone to a friend at the edge of his Gray home when he heard what he believed to be five consecutive guns shots in the area at 8.57am.

“I was surprised,” Paul said.

“I heard five gunshots … well sounded like five gunshots.

“Definitely didn’t sound like an ordinary firecracker or anything like that.”

Only a few hundred metres from the cordoned off crime scene is Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School where you can hear kids laugh and play.

EARLIER: WITNESSES on the scene of a major police incident unfolding in the Palmerston suburb of Gray have shared their experiences.

Gray resident Gloria Barbeller said she heard four shots in quick succession.

Ms Barbeller said she immediately knew the sounds were guns, and was “terrified”

Witness Gloria Barbeller

Distressed witnesses called out to police “what happened to tasers?”

A man on a bike said the shooting victim was just holding a spear.

A distressed witness at the scene of the critical incident around Victoria Dr, Gray. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Neighbours looked on as police shut down the school zone. Tunes from Disney’s Encanto were heard playing from across the cordoned off area.

An eyewitness said the incident unfolded near the Gray School soccer oval.

“She noticed a pool of blood on the island of the middle of the road, there was quite a lot of blood” a friend of the eyewitness told Mix 104.9’s Katie Woolf.

“The (drops of) blood had gone back to a park … to the park behind the flats there.”

Another eyewitness told Ms Woolf the corner of Priest and Victoria roads had been closed and detectives were scouring the area.

Originally published as Witnesses speak out about major police incident in Gray