Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now a man's died after an incident at Cole's supermarket
in Alice Springs. Security guards confronted the twenty four year
old who was trying to steal items by hiding them
in his clothes just after one pm yesterday afternoon. Police
say the twenty four year old became aggressive, an altercation
then broke out and a security guard was assaulted. Now
(00:22):
joining me in the studio is see Northern Territories Assistant
Police Commissioner Travis Wurz. Good morning to your assistant commissioner.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Morning coding, and morning to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Now talk me through what's happened from the police perspective.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
So, obviously the report was received yesterday. As you've described,
Northern Charity Police responded from a frontline point of view
that so security guards called police police were requested to
attend the supermarket for this particular mile. But in that
intervening period a person, a police officer who was on
(00:55):
duty but actually implying clothes, was at the location. He
saw what was occurring, he assisted the security guards. We
can confirm that one of the security guards had been
assaulted before the police officer got there, and after a
period of time the other police arrived, but unfortunately, in
that intervening period, for reasons yet to be determined, the
(01:16):
male lost consciousness. Saint John's Ambulance were also called. They arrived, attended,
provided medical care. He was taken Ali Springs Hospital unfortunately
passed away.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So in terms of the police that were there, were
they so they were actually on duty, but in plane clothes,
so presumably on lunch or something.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Correct, Yeah, they were the calls for their own personal purposes,
boss getting lunch as is there, They're right, and even
though they were off duty, sorry not off duty, but
they were at the supermarket in playing clothes. The Northern
Charity Police have a duty and they became involved because
(01:58):
there was obviously an incident that required a response, and
the police officers did the right thing and became involved
to support the security guards who were involved in this
altercation with the mail. And unfortunately, as a consequence of
all the things that transpired, many of which we're still
piecing together as part of the investigation, this person's passed away.
(02:18):
I passed on my condolences to the family. What I
can tell your listeners is that we believe we've identified
the mail. However, we need to do that through a
formal process, and that hasn't yet been occurred. There are
very strict protocols that we must adhere to to make
sure that we are completely certain as to who the
(02:38):
identity of the person who passed away was. We do believe, however,
the mail was living in our springs but is from
a remote community within Central Australia. As a consequence of
that information, soon after the incident occurred, we had our
cultural reform teams start engaging with the community and community members.
We've also had police in the particular community engaging with
(03:03):
the family members and the community more broadly to ensure
that there's an open line of communication and we can
provide as much information as we can. We're very concerned about, obviously,
the community sentiment and the impact this will have in
the community. So we're working very closely with that community
to make sure that any issues that may bubble up
can be addressed and dealt with sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So has there been any unreased in Ellice Springs following
that incident, Look.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Not, to my knowledge. I did have a conversation with
the other springs management team this morning just so I
understood what the sentiment and the community temperature was and
at this stage all the work we've done to this
point has managed to ensure that there's been no concern
in the community from an unrest point of view. We've
also engaged with all of our common wealth sorry, our government,
(03:51):
orn terity, government partners and commal partners to make sure
that there's calm in this response. We all need to
make sure we're delivering services into our spring and into
all the remote communities as we would normally, and in
fact increase That engagement is required because we understand what
this could mean for a remote community, and we need
to make sure that we're able to address any concerns
(04:13):
as they arrive and arise so that we can keep
every community safe.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So at this point in time, as I understand it,
this is now being treated as a death in custody.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Right, that's correct. So what that means is that when
police are involved in an incident and ultimately someone in
that incident passes away, there's clear guidelines that tell us
what is and what isn't the death in custody. This
is quite clearly falls into that category. A matter such
as this will mandatorily go to the coroner's office and
(04:46):
become an inquest. It's an obligation that the coroner has.
We're investigating this matter at the moment on behalf of
the coroner. Some of the information that for your listeners
around what we're doing. We have a full investiative structure
in place. We had major crime investigators flying last night,
some more this morning to support the other Springs team
who've done a wonderful job in that initial evidentiary and
(05:08):
evidence collection process that we need to step through. We
have a full structure in place. Pathologist is in our Springs.
She'll be conducting an autopsy this morning and that will
obviously be a crucial part of the evidence that's provided
to us that helps us in our decision making.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
It made public that the autopsy. In terms of if
there is a cause of death identified, you.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Look normally, yes, it's not information that's closed, not disclosable
within reason of course, depending on what the circumstances are,
and will provide an information to the community and due
course as and when we can.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
In terms of those police officers, obviously understanding the fact
that they were on duty but we're not working at
the time, were they wearing body on cameras, not.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
To my knowledge, but there is We as part of
the investigation have collected some other CCTV and footage from
within that particular location at the time, which is really
important for our investigation.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Are you able to say what that sort of shows
you at this point?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
So I haven't seen it. I'm not making sure my
team are assessing that as we speak in ours so
not my team, the team and obviously I'll know more
in due course. In relation to those two officers who
are involved, so one was there right from the beginning
and the other one came in into the incident soon after.
We've provided welfare support for those members immediately through their
(06:42):
management team and our Springs to make sure that their
well being to be managed through what will be a
very difficult situation and circumstance for them. And Northern Charity
Police Association are also not on the ground and also
providing support to those members, and we're also provide support
to the more the broader hour Springs policing community as
well if there's support required.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
For them, I mean, Assistant Commissioner, we're in a you know,
we know it's always a difficult juggle for police and
also you know, the community when it comes to well
to policing right across the Northern territory. I mean, even
over recent months we've seen a coronial inquest into the
situation in you and dem We've also seen a coronial
(07:23):
inquest just this week or last week. In terms of
the impact that policing can have on police officers, I mean,
are you concerned about the impact that this death in
custody may have when it comes to police officers going
about their duties.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Not necessarily, we're well trained, we're well skilled, we have
refresher training constantly, we're well equipped and we have good
supervision across our membership across the territory. But the specific
so people involved in the death and custody I've been
involved in personally and we've had a number over a
number of years. They're really quite challenging from an individual
(08:06):
officer perspective, and there needs to be dedicated a specific
support to those members because for them, unfortunately, as a
tragedy that's occurred, we have a person who's lost their
life and police are involved in that, and those police
officers now have to live with that for the rest
of their lives. There will be an inquest. As I said,
so we need to make sure that we're working with
(08:28):
those members well to manage their well being and support
them through what this looks like.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
All right, So just before I let you go, we
know that there is going to be a full and
thorough investigation. Now you're not expecting or certainly there's a
lot of work being done to try to keep the
community calm, to keep everybody calm. So our extra office
is going to be required to be flown in or
anything like that at this point in time.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
From an investgative point of view, yes, as I said,
that's our priority at the moment. We do have to
the remote community that is referenced earlier. We have provided
some leadership into that community to go and talk with
family and engage and deal with that initial contact which
has been achieved outside of that. As I said, at
(09:13):
this stage, I implore the community to if you saw
or heard anything. We do believe there may have been
an incident that occurred involving the same person who's passed
away soon before the incident at Cole's at the Commwolf
Bank in our Springs, So if anyone may have seen
something that was of interest potentially to investigators, doesn't matter
(09:34):
how small. Please contact one three, one trough before. There
is a lot of information the team is working through
at the moment, and we will get back to you
in due course.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
What do you believe that incident was that it happens earlier?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
We understand that there was a person, a female who
was unknown to the person who passed away, and it
was an assault that looked took place. I don't know
how serious out a sight was, but where we believe
that incident may have have occurred just prior to.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
The assaulted all it's correct, okay.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
But again we're piecing that together at the moment, and
I asked the community to listen to what the police
are providing into the community by way of media and
updates for this That is your source of truth, not
particularly social media reporting or other reporting you may hear
or see. We will provide as much information as we
can to provide the necessary information to inform the community.
(10:30):
Misinformation disinformation in this space is really dangerous for the
investigation and also for the welfare and wellbeing of the
police officers, the community, the family of the man who's
passed away. None of that is helpful in this regard well.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst, appreciate your time this morning, and
no doubt police will certainly be keeping us up to
date as as much as possible. Thank you for joining
us on the show My pleasure.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Thank you,
Now a man's died after an incident at Cole's supermarket
in Alice Springs. Security guards confronted the twenty four year
old who was trying to steal items by hiding them
in his clothes just after one pm yesterday afternoon. Police
say the twenty four year old became aggressive, an altercation
then broke out and a security guard was assaulted. Now
(00:22):
joining me in the studio is see Northern Territories Assistant
Police Commissioner Travis Wurz. Good morning to your assistant commissioner.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Morning coding, and morning to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Now talk me through what's happened from the police perspective.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
So, obviously the report was received yesterday. As you've described,
Northern Charity Police responded from a frontline point of view
that so security guards called police police were requested to
attend the supermarket for this particular mile. But in that
intervening period a person, a police officer who was on
(00:55):
duty but actually implying clothes, was at the location. He
saw what was occurring, he assisted the security guards. We
can confirm that one of the security guards had been
assaulted before the police officer got there, and after a
period of time the other police arrived, but unfortunately, in
that intervening period, for reasons yet to be determined, the
(01:16):
male lost consciousness. Saint John's Ambulance were also called. They arrived, attended,
provided medical care. He was taken Ali Springs Hospital unfortunately
passed away.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
So in terms of the police that were there, were
they so they were actually on duty, but in plane clothes,
so presumably on lunch or something.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Correct, Yeah, they were the calls for their own personal purposes,
boss getting lunch as is there, They're right, and even
though they were off duty, sorry not off duty, but
they were at the supermarket in playing clothes. The Northern
Charity Police have a duty and they became involved because
(01:58):
there was obviously an incident that required a response, and
the police officers did the right thing and became involved
to support the security guards who were involved in this
altercation with the mail. And unfortunately, as a consequence of
all the things that transpired, many of which we're still
piecing together as part of the investigation, this person's passed away.
(02:18):
I passed on my condolences to the family. What I
can tell your listeners is that we believe we've identified
the mail. However, we need to do that through a
formal process, and that hasn't yet been occurred. There are
very strict protocols that we must adhere to to make
sure that we are completely certain as to who the
(02:38):
identity of the person who passed away was. We do believe, however,
the mail was living in our springs but is from
a remote community within Central Australia. As a consequence of
that information, soon after the incident occurred, we had our
cultural reform teams start engaging with the community and community members.
We've also had police in the particular community engaging with
(03:03):
the family members and the community more broadly to ensure
that there's an open line of communication and we can
provide as much information as we can. We're very concerned about, obviously,
the community sentiment and the impact this will have in
the community. So we're working very closely with that community
to make sure that any issues that may bubble up
can be addressed and dealt with sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So has there been any unreased in Ellice Springs following
that incident, Look.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Not, to my knowledge. I did have a conversation with
the other springs management team this morning just so I
understood what the sentiment and the community temperature was and
at this stage all the work we've done to this
point has managed to ensure that there's been no concern
in the community from an unrest point of view. We've
also engaged with all of our common wealth sorry, our government,
(03:51):
orn terity, government partners and commal partners to make sure
that there's calm in this response. We all need to
make sure we're delivering services into our spring and into
all the remote communities as we would normally, and in
fact increase That engagement is required because we understand what
this could mean for a remote community, and we need
to make sure that we're able to address any concerns
(04:13):
as they arrive and arise so that we can keep
every community safe.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So at this point in time, as I understand it,
this is now being treated as a death in custody.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Right, that's correct. So what that means is that when
police are involved in an incident and ultimately someone in
that incident passes away, there's clear guidelines that tell us
what is and what isn't the death in custody. This
is quite clearly falls into that category. A matter such
as this will mandatorily go to the coroner's office and
(04:46):
become an inquest. It's an obligation that the coroner has.
We're investigating this matter at the moment on behalf of
the coroner. Some of the information that for your listeners
around what we're doing. We have a full investiative structure
in place. We had major crime investigators flying last night,
some more this morning to support the other Springs team
who've done a wonderful job in that initial evidentiary and
(05:08):
evidence collection process that we need to step through. We
have a full structure in place. Pathologist is in our Springs.
She'll be conducting an autopsy this morning and that will
obviously be a crucial part of the evidence that's provided
to us that helps us in our decision making.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
It made public that the autopsy. In terms of if
there is a cause of death identified, you.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Look normally, yes, it's not information that's closed, not disclosable
within reason of course, depending on what the circumstances are,
and will provide an information to the community and due
course as and when we can.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
In terms of those police officers, obviously understanding the fact
that they were on duty but we're not working at
the time, were they wearing body on cameras, not.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
To my knowledge, but there is We as part of
the investigation have collected some other CCTV and footage from
within that particular location at the time, which is really
important for our investigation.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Are you able to say what that sort of shows
you at this point?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
So I haven't seen it. I'm not making sure my
team are assessing that as we speak in ours so
not my team, the team and obviously I'll know more
in due course. In relation to those two officers who
are involved, so one was there right from the beginning
and the other one came in into the incident soon after.
We've provided welfare support for those members immediately through their
(06:42):
management team and our Springs to make sure that their
well being to be managed through what will be a
very difficult situation and circumstance for them. And Northern Charity
Police Association are also not on the ground and also
providing support to those members, and we're also provide support
to the more the broader hour Springs policing community as
well if there's support required.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
For them, I mean, Assistant Commissioner, we're in a you know,
we know it's always a difficult juggle for police and
also you know, the community when it comes to well
to policing right across the Northern territory. I mean, even
over recent months we've seen a coronial inquest into the
situation in you and dem We've also seen a coronial
(07:23):
inquest just this week or last week. In terms of
the impact that policing can have on police officers, I mean,
are you concerned about the impact that this death in
custody may have when it comes to police officers going
about their duties.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Not necessarily, we're well trained, we're well skilled, we have
refresher training constantly, we're well equipped and we have good
supervision across our membership across the territory. But the specific
so people involved in the death and custody I've been
involved in personally and we've had a number over a
number of years. They're really quite challenging from an individual
(08:06):
officer perspective, and there needs to be dedicated a specific
support to those members because for them, unfortunately, as a
tragedy that's occurred, we have a person who's lost their
life and police are involved in that, and those police
officers now have to live with that for the rest
of their lives. There will be an inquest. As I said,
so we need to make sure that we're working with
(08:28):
those members well to manage their well being and support
them through what this looks like.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
All right, So just before I let you go, we
know that there is going to be a full and
thorough investigation. Now you're not expecting or certainly there's a
lot of work being done to try to keep the
community calm, to keep everybody calm. So our extra office
is going to be required to be flown in or
anything like that at this point in time.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
From an investgative point of view, yes, as I said,
that's our priority at the moment. We do have to
the remote community that is referenced earlier. We have provided
some leadership into that community to go and talk with
family and engage and deal with that initial contact which
has been achieved outside of that. As I said, at
(09:13):
this stage, I implore the community to if you saw
or heard anything. We do believe there may have been
an incident that occurred involving the same person who's passed
away soon before the incident at Cole's at the Commwolf
Bank in our Springs, So if anyone may have seen
something that was of interest potentially to investigators, doesn't matter
(09:34):
how small. Please contact one three, one trough before. There
is a lot of information the team is working through
at the moment, and we will get back to you
in due course.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
What do you believe that incident was that it happens earlier?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
We understand that there was a person, a female who
was unknown to the person who passed away, and it
was an assault that looked took place. I don't know
how serious out a sight was, but where we believe
that incident may have have occurred just prior to.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
The assaulted all it's correct, okay.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
But again we're piecing that together at the moment, and
I asked the community to listen to what the police
are providing into the community by way of media and
updates for this That is your source of truth, not
particularly social media reporting or other reporting you may hear
or see. We will provide as much information as we
can to provide the necessary information to inform the community.
(10:30):
Misinformation disinformation in this space is really dangerous for the
investigation and also for the welfare and wellbeing of the
police officers, the community, the family of the man who's
passed away. None of that is helpful in this regard well.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst, appreciate your time this morning, and
no doubt police will certainly be keeping us up to
date as as much as possible. Thank you for joining
us on the show My pleasure.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Thank you,
Popular Podcasts
True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.