Hundreds of shocked and angry Yuendumu residents have gathered in the community where a teenager was shot by police on Saturday night, seeking answers and justice.

Key points: Acting Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst told a community gathering that Mr Walker, who was shot dead on Saturday night, stabbed a police officer

Acting Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst told a community gathering that Mr Walker, who was shot dead on Saturday night, stabbed a police officer Assistant Commissioner Wurst said Mr Walker was shot three times during the altercation

Assistant Commissioner Wurst said Mr Walker was shot three times during the altercation Members of the Yuendumu community have expressed outrage and disappointment over the police's response

Northern Territory Police shot and killed 19-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi Walker during an altercation at a residence in the community at about 7:15pm on Saturday.

WARNING: This article contains an image of Mr Walker used with the permission of his family.

NT Police have now alleged Mr Walker stabbed a police officer during the fatal incident in the town 266 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.

But as new details emerge surrounding the circumstances of the shooting, a state of uproar has swept the Yuendumu community and trust between police and residents has rapidly deteriorated.

'Police are here to stay, here to protect'

NT Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst addressed a large gathering at the Yuendumu basketball courts on Sunday afternoon.

Mr Walker was shot three times at a residence in Yuendumu, according to NT Police. ( Supplied: Facebook )

Assistant Commissioner Wurst told the crowd that three shots were fired during the altercation — a version of events that contradicted NT Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Michael White earlier in the day.

At a media conference on Sunday morning, Deputy Commissioner White said two shots had been fired.

Assistant Commissioner Wurst apologised to the community and said Mr Walker was shot in a struggle with police.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Commissioner White said Mr Walker had "lunged" at a police officer while "armed with a weapon", but Assistant Commissioner Wurst told the gathering Mr Walker had "stabbed" an officer before he was shot by police.

The information provoked an intense response from community members, who apparently disagreed with the new version of events.

Kumanjayi Walker's mother Leanne Oldfield mourned her loss with the Yuendumu community. ( ABC News: Katrina Beavan )

"Yesterday police from Alice Springs came across Kumanjayi … and when police were talking to him there was a fight, and in the fight he stabbed one policeman, and then the police did use a gun and they did shoot," Assistant Commissioner Wurst said.

"There were three shots."

Mr Wurst told the crowd that "everything was recorded" with a body camera.

"What's happening now is we need to find out what happened for Kumanjayi, for your community and for the police so you know the truth," he said.

"We did not want this to happen. We are very sad for Yuendumu, very sad for the Walpiri people, and very sad for the police."

Assistant Commissioner Wurst spoke to allay concerns of an increased police presence in the community in the wake of the shooting, saying "police are here to stay, we're here to protect and we want to work with you".

Assistant Commissioner Wurst said police would "help the community find the truth". ( ABC News: Katrina Beavan )

'The trust in the police is not with us anymore'

Heartbroken members of the community expressed distrust with police and anger at the overall police response to the incident.

Community members also say they were frozen out of communication from police on the night of the incident, with family members not informed Mr Walker had died until Sunday morning.

Members of the Yuendumu community expressed outrage at the police response at a meeting on Sunday. ( ABC News: Katrina Beavan )

Senior elder Harry Nelson said the community was cynical of the police's actions, and questioned the future role of policing in Yuendumu.

"I'm really upset with how the police acted last night," he said.

"They didn't even respond to the requests from family members of the deceased.

"I'm not sure how we're going to deal with that.

"We shouldn't have police stationed here at Yuendumu.

"The trust in the police is not with us anymore.

"All I want is from us the community, to say they can shut the police station down."

'They came and shot him and took him away'

Another senior Warlpiri elder, Eddie Robertson, said a mood of hurt, mourning and disbelief had set in in the town.

"Today we are still crying and we don't believe that we lost a young bloke in our own town," he said.

Elder Eddie Robertson said police had left the community in the dark. ( ABC News: Katrina Beavan )

"The whole community is in mourning, even the kardiya (white) staff are in mourning, and we are standing together strongly."

Mr Nelson said the community was angered and upset at the lack of transparency from police.

"When we heard what happened, the police were already on their way to the police station and they locked themselves in there.

"That's when we started to get angry, and wailing, and crying.

"We tried to make them [the police] come and talk to us.

"We were very upset … if they were human beings they would have come and told us what really happened.

"But we just waited, waited, waited, and nothing happened.

"They wouldn't come out, they just looked at us from the window.

"Many of the elders were standing in the doorway trying to ask how he was … but they wouldn't let us in.

"What we want to know what happened. Everyone wants to know what really happened here.

"It was Mafia-style that they came and shot him and took him away."

Kumanjayi Walker's grandmother Peggy Brown spoke passionately at the gathering at the Yuendumu basketball court. ( ABC News: Katrina Beavan )

'They knew he was dead and they didn't tell us'

Samara Fernandez Brown, a cousin of Mr Walker, said her uncle walked inside the crime scene and saw bullet casings and blood splattered across a mattress.

"From there, we went to the police station and sat there for like four hours, peacefully, no protest, we were just sitting there, and all we kept asking the constable was can you come out and let us know if he's safe, if he's alive," she said.

Kumanjayi Walker's cousins Samara Fernandez Brown and Natasha Fernandez Brown, and aunty Joyce Brown. ( ABC News: Katrina Beavan )

Ms Fernandez Brown said police told her and other family members Mr Walker was getting medical assistance "when he was dead the whole time".

"We went to bed last night praying, thinking there was still a chance," she said.

"But the whole time he was just dead in the police station.

"For hours we sat there and we were waiting, they knew he was dead and they didn't tell us."

Ms Fernandez Brown said there "was no cultural consideration at all" in how the police dealt with the body and denied the family's requests for access to Mr Walker.

"Our way we would go and hug the body, his Aunties and all his family are here, but just nothing," she said.

"This morning they took him by car."

Robin Granites, Mr Walker's grandfather, said the use of lethal force was indefensible.

"If you wanted to arrest a person, police should arrest a person not using a gun," he said.

"A gun is a dangerous weapon that shouldn't be used."