A pathologist will conduct an autopsy on the 24-year-old Aboriginal man who died after being taken to the ground by two plain-clothes officers following an alleged shoplifting incident in Alice Springs.
The two Northern Territory officers were in the Coles supermarket about 1.10pm on Tuesday when they were alerted to a confrontation between the man and a security guard in a shopping aisle.
"The male behaved rather aggressively and was placed onto the ground by those police officers, he was later identified as losing consciousness," Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst told reporters.
It was reported the young man was "placing items down the front of his clothing" and that he assaulted the security guard when confronted, he said.
After being restrained by the officers the man stopped breathing and was given CPR before being taken to Alice Springs Hospital where he was pronounced dead about 2.20pm.
A pathologist was flying to Alice Springs to perform an autopsy on Wednesday, with police preparing a report for the coroner.
Senator Thorpe on Wednesday decried the "shocking death in custody", saying the man was disabled, on the NDIS and under state guardianship.
"He was hungry and he needed care. Instead, he was met with brutal force," she said in a statement.
"This is not an isolated tragedy - it's part of a brutal pattern where our people die at the hands of police and in prisons. We won't stop speaking out until it ends."
Senator Thorpe said despite countless recommendations, inquiries and promises, Indigenous people continued to die in custody.
When questioned by reporters on Tuesday, Mr Wurst was unable to say if the man had signalled he could not breathe, whether the officers were on top of him or how long he was restrained.
"The investigation is only in its preliminary stages, there's lots of work to be done by our investigative team to collect the evidence from those involved," he said.
"I pass on my condolences to the family of this person, it's a tragic set of circumstances.
"It will also have a significant impact on the security guards and the police officers."
Since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, records show 593 Indigenous people have died in custody.
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