Arabic version: وثائقي يعيد تناول وفاة كومانجايي ووكر
According to The Guardian, Darren Dale’s four-part documentary series 2.6 Seconds: Death in the Outback examines the 2019 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker by Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe in Yuendumu. Its title refers to the interval between the first and second of the three shots Rolfe fired.
Rolfe was found not guilty of murder and cleared of two other charges after a five-week trial held three years after Walker’s death. Three years later, a coroner found Rolfe to be racist and could not rule out that his attitude played a role in the death.
The series presents the case as one involving failures of systems affecting both Walker and Rolfe, though in very different ways. It addresses Walker’s cognitive and health problems, difficult childhood and history with youth detention, as well as Rolfe’s army service, deployment to Afghanistan, weapons training in the United States and subsequent work with NT police.
The review describes the production as a work of journalistic rigour, while arguing that its volume of detail can make its narrative difficult to follow. The second episode, focused on Walker’s death and its immediate aftermath, is described as well arranged and shockingly intense. Prominent interviewees include barrister and series writer Andrew Boe, Guardian Australia journalist Nino Bucci, and Walker’s cousin Samara Nangala Fernandez Brown.
2.6 Seconds: Death in the Outback airs on SBS and NITV on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8.30pm, and is available on SBS On Demand in Australia. It is scheduled to stream on Netflix internationally in 2027.
