BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - Security was stepped up at an Aboriginal community in remote northern Australia on Wednesday after rioters attacked a police station and ransacked a shop.
About 300 people went on a rampage Tuesday night in the northern Queensland community of Aurukun, on the western edge of Queensland's Cape York Peninsula, attacking the police station, the town store and a tavern.
The riot erupted after a 22-year-old man, who had been arrested for assault, fell sick in police custody and was taken to a clinic. Angry protesters gathered outside in response to rumors that officers had injured him, police said.
Police officers had to barricade themselves inside the Aurukun station overnight when a mob tried to break down the door with an ax. One of the officers fired a warning shot into the ground and the crowd dispersed, later ransacking the community store and stealing alcohol from a pub, police said.
Authorities sent police reinforcements to the remote community, and the situation was calm early Wednesday, it said.
Police declared "an emergency situation" in the area around the police station, but did not say what measures were being imposed.
Queensland's Acting Premier Anna Bligh promised a thorough investigation into allegations that the 22-year-old man was mistreated in custody, but said there was no excuse for the rioting, blaming "confusion and misinformation."
Tensions in Queensland's Aboriginal communities have run high since the state prosecutor decided not to press charges against a police officer over the death of an Aboriginal man in custody on Palm Island, near Townsville, in 2004.
"Incidents at Palm Island have had an impact on the confidence the people in Indigenous communities have in the operation of the law and order system in Queensland," said Bligh, who was filling in for the vacationing Premier Peter Beattie.
"I think that really does put a real responsibility on the Queensland Police Service and the government to ensure this is investigated thoroughly, so people can have confidence in the processes of justice."
Many of Australia's 400,000 Aborigines live in abject poverty. They have the highest rates of incarceration, unemployment, preventable disease and infant mortality among Australians, and on average die more than 20 years younger.
--