Zachary Rolfe, who shot Aboriginal teenager Kumanjayi Walker dead in 2019 is sacked by the NT Police

Zachary Rolfe has been dismissed by the Northern Territory Police Force despite being acquitted of murder over the shooting death of an Aboriginal teenager.

Mr Rolfe shot Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker dead during a botched arrest in November 2019 at the remote community of Yuendumu, 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.

A statement issued by NT Police on April 4 confirmed Mr Rolfe was sacked ‘due to serious breaches of discipline’.

‘A 31-year-old male police officer has been dismissed from the Northern Territory Police Force effective 4th April 2023,’ the statement read.

‘The officer was dismissed under section 78 of the Police Administration Act 1978 due to serious breaches of discipline during their policing career.’

Mr Rolfe, a former constable, was charged with Mr Walker’s murder three days after his death on November 9, 2019, but was acquitted in March 2022.

Four NT police officers arrived at Yuendumu to arrest Mr Walker.

But when fonthe 19-year-old resisted, stabbing Mr Rolfe in the shoulder with a pair of surgical scissors. 

In response Mr Rolfe’s partner Adam Eberl punched Mr Walker in the head, then Mr Rolfe struck the boy in the face, before firing his Glock pistol into Mr Walker’s back.

Mr Rolfe shot Mr Walker two more times in the torso. A post-mortem examination would later determine either the second or third shot killed him.

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The jury that acquitted Mr Rolfe heard that he acted in good faith, in the reasonable performance of his duties and in the defence of himself and his policing partner in firing his gun after being stabbed.

The verdict left the grieving Warlpiri community angry and calling for justice to be served for their beloved son. 

The ABC reported that Mr Rolfe’s dismissal may be linked to the 2,500-word open letter, which he published online in February.

The letter – which has been published by several media outlets – painted the Aboriginal teen as a violent abuser who tried to kill both him and his partner Adam Eber.

In it Mr Rolfe claimed he would have ‘got a medal’ for his actions if the incident had occurred in another state. 

The letter was critical of police leadership and the continuing coronial inquest into Mr Walker’s death.

Mr Rolfe took aim at NT police hierarchy and a ‘biased’ coronial inquest which he says painted him as a ‘violent thug’. 

Meanwhile, Mr Rolfe’s father, Robert Rolfe, called out Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker, saying the territory’s top cop ‘must go’.

Mr Rolfe claimed a ‘petty vendetta’ led to his son’s dismissal.

‘We can’t allow Chalker to keep on getting rid of good police officers,’ Mr Rolfe told Sky News Australia.

Mr Rolfe sr also claimed ‘the government have now lost confidence in Chalker’.