Violence erupted across a rural town in northern Australia on Thursday night, after a crowd of people assaulted a man suspected of killing a five-year-old Indigenous girl and then clashed with the police officers who were arresting him.
Officers transported the man, Jefferson Lewis, to a hospital in Alice Springs, where hundreds of people yelled and threw rocks, bottles and other projectiles at the police, according to the national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Mr. Lewis, 47, is suspected of the killing of Kumanjayi Little Baby, as the five-year-old girl is being referred to per her family’s request and Indigenous customs. Many in the crowd outside the hospital said he should be killed and accused the police of protecting him, the ABC reported.
Emergency vehicles were damaged or set on fire as the police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
On Friday morning, trash and white stains of tear gas lined the streets outside the hospital, while a nearby gas station appeared to be looted and its windows shattered, local media reported.
For five days, the police and volunteers had scoured dense and rough terrain surrounding the Old Timers Aboriginal Town Camp, south of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, looking for the girl.
She vanished from a property in the camp on Saturday night, prompting the authorities to mount one of the biggest police investigations in the history of the Northern Territory. Rescuers’ efforts ended in heartbreak on Thursday after her body was found about three miles south of where she had last been seen.
Police Commissioner Martin Dole of the Northern Territory said that several hours later, authorities were called to a nearby town camp after reports that Mr. Lewis had made himself known to the community, where he was recognized.
“As a result of presenting himself, members of that town camp decided to inflict vigilante justice upon Jefferson, and we received numerous phone calls saying he was in the process of being assaulted,” Commissioner Dole said on Friday.
Mr. Lewis was unconscious by the time the authorities arrived, and the crowd of about 200 people “turned on” and attacked emergency responders, Commissioner Dole said.
“They were able to get out of there and get Mr. Lewis to hospital,” he said.
Shortly after, about 400 people gathered outside the hospital and tried to gain access to Mr. Lewis, the commissioner said.
The police said that several officers had been injured during the unrest and that one woman had been arrested after what they said was an attempt to set fire to a vehicle.
Mr. Lewis was transferred to Darwin, a city about 930 miles north of Alice Springs, because the authorities feared for his safety and that of hospital staff, the police commissioner said.
He added that charges were expected to be laid against Mr. Lewis in the coming days and that the police were looking into anyone who may have assisted Mr. Lewis.
The authorities called for calm across the region on Friday. Robin Granites, a senior Indigenous elder and spokesperson for Kumanjayi Little Baby’s family, said justice must be allowed to take its course.
“Everyone is feeling very upset and emotions are very high,” he said in a statement. “What has happened this week is not our way. Our children are precious — of course we are feeling angry and hurt at what has happened.”
On Thursday, the girl’s mother, who was not named, said in a statement that she loved and missed her daughter and knew she was in heaven.
“It is going to be so hard to live the rest of our lives without you,” her mother said, adding, “Me and your brother will meet you one day.”
Laura Chung is a Sydney-based reporter and researcher for The Times, covering Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.
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