Alleged killer of 5yo girl moved to Darwin after violent clashes outside hospital | ABC NEWS

Anger has boiled over on the streets of Alice Springs as the local community comes to the terms with the tragic death of Kumunjai Little Baby.A large crowd clashed with police outside the city's hospital overnight where they believe the man arrested over her alleged murder was being held.

A 47 -year -old Jefferson Lewis was understood to have been beaten by a group of people after he was recognised as the man that police were hunting.We are joined by the Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole.Commissioner, thanks for joining us.

Yeah, good morning.Thanks for having me.

Commissioner, we'll start with those scenes overnight.A lot of violence on the streets, but clearly this is a community in grief.Tell me what's going on at the moment.

Yeah, absolutely Emma.Look, it is a community in grief and we recognise that.And what occurred overnight is not acceptable and it's an aberration and it's not reflective of what we've seen from the community of Alice Springs in the last five days.This community has pulled together, it's walked shoulder to shoulder in the search for Kumunjai Little Baby and the, you know, the violent outpouring that we saw last night, the attacks on police and emergency services personnel, Not only is not acceptable, but it's not reflective of what we've seen for the last five days.

Can you tell us about how Jefferson Lewis was arrested and also his condition at the moment?Is he still in Alice Springs or has he been moved?

Yeah, so he's not in Alice Springs.He was conveyed by police air wing at about 3 .30 this morning and he's currently in Darwin or just landing in Darwin as we're speaking.He's been given a fit for custody from the health, so he's in police custody.He's been given a fit for custody.Jefferson Lewis was identified at one of the town camps at about 10 .30 last night.My understanding is that he identified himself to community members there after intense pressure and media pressure calling for him to make himself known.

We had several calls that he was being assaulted at that time and we turned up and intervened in that assault and took him into custody.

And was he unconscious when he was taken into custody?

Yes, it's my understanding at that time he was unconscious.Our police officers were attacked at that time as were the St John Ambulance crew that attended to assist.They were turned on by about 200 people.They were able to get out of there and get Mr Lewis to hospital and then we saw about 400 people, angry people, gather at the Alice Springs Hospital and try and get inside and get to Jefferson Lewis.We deployed all of the police resources available to Alice Springs Hospital and we ensured that that didn't occur and nobody got to him.He's still safety in peace custody now but in Darwin.

And was anyone else injured in that unrest last night?

Yes, Emma, unfortunately there were several people injured.We had two police officers injured, we had two St John's Ambulance officers injured and we had a Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service member injured as a result of that disturbance last night.

And was anyone else arrested?

No arrests have been made as yet but the violent disorder has been quelled and there is a sense of calm at the moment across Alice Springs and we've got significant resources this morning targeting those that targeted emergency services last night.

What's your message to the community?As we said they're clearly angry but also really in mourning now as well, a lot of grief in that community.What's your message to them?

Yeah, thank you Emma.Look what we need now is some compassionate and strong leadership.from the Elders.We've seen that in the last five days.We've seen this community come together and as I said stand shoulder to shoulder and now is not the time.to step away from that collegiality that we've seen across this community.

I understand that people are grieving and I understand that people are upset, but please let the police do their job.This man is now in custody and please do not do anything to jeopardise a future prosecution.

Commissioner, I want to talk to you about the discovery of the body of Kumunjaya Little Baby.I'm sure everyone across the country was devastated when they heard that news.What was the police reaction?Because this must be extremely difficult for officers and all the emergency services and those who went out searching.

Yeah, look, absolute devastation, Emma.We poured every resource that we could into this.The community support, as I've said in the media previously, has been overwhelming.And everyone was holding out hope that there would be a different outcome to this.So when we made that discovery yesterday, absolutely devastating for everybody involved, not just the police officers, but the whole community.

How do you support that community now, in particular, Kumundi Little Baby's family?

Yes, so we've got our cultural reform team wrapped around Kumungi Little Babies family.We've been supporting them since Sunday, since we've been involved in this operation.So their needs are well looked after, but the wider community isn't used to these type of things.I've been a police officer for 30 years and these jobs still rock you to the core.So, you know, we just implore people in Alice Springs that assisted us just to reach out for their help, support one another,