A 20-year-old BWS worker was allegedly stabbed to death by a customer with a bottle of alcohol.
Declan Laverty was minutes away from finishing his shift at the Airport Tavern BWS self-service bottle shop in Darwin just before 9pm on Sunday when he refused to serve a 19-year-old.
The teen allegedly stabbed Mr. Laverty and fled the scene in a vehicle.
Mr. Laverty was dead when paramedics and officers arrived, despite several attempts by shocked witnesses to try to revive him.
The 19-year-old was arrested by police several hours later.
He remains in police custody and is expected to be charged later today.
Laverty’s sister, Bridget, wrote a tribute on Facebook on Monday: “Declan, you were the best brother I could ask for.”
Declan Laverty (left) was allegedly stabbed while working at BWS in Darwin. His sister Bridget Laverty (right) remembered him as ‘the best brother’
“Your silly laugh, your love, your big head will be sorely missed my brother, forever 20,” he said.
A friend said he was ‘heartbroken’ and called for an end to the violence.
‘Fly high my brother. Too young,’ he wrote on Facebook.
‘#puttheknifesdown this has to stop.’
Shocked members of the community also flooded social media with tributes.
One woman said: ‘Everyone has the right to be safe at work and to go home to their loved ones at the end of their shift.’
Another wrote: ‘This is so horrible. Just doing your job, following the RSA and can’t come home?
‘Sending love to your family, friends and co-workers’.
A second person is also helping police with investigations, Northern Territory acting deputy police commissioner Danny Bacon told Darwin Mix radio station 104.9.
He described the alleged attack as a “senseless loss of life.”
“That investigation has priority this morning,” he added.
Mr. Laverty (pictured) was dead when paramedics and officers arrived, despite several attempts by shocked witnesses to try to revive him.
Police are expected to provide more details later on Monday as investigators continue their investigations.
A man who was one of the first on scene and tried to save the worker’s life described the worker as a “beautiful child.”
His distraught relatives are understood to have rushed to the scene shortly after the incident.
The bottle shop is part of the Airport Tavern, a popular pub described on its Facebook page as the heart of the community, which Jingili residents call their local.
Both the tavern and the bottle shop remained cordoned off as a crime scene Monday morning, with several police vehicles on the scene.
Laverty’s death has sparked a flurry of tributes from the hotel industry and the Endeavor Group, owner of the tavern and bottle.
“Our thoughts are with the family, friends and loved ones of the team members,” said Endeavor Group CEO Steve Donohue.
‘We thank the emergency service workers who came to the scene.
“We will offer advice and support to all of our team members in Darwin at the BWS and ALH hotels, and to the team member’s family.”
The airport tavern and BWS bottle shop in Darwin remained a crime scene on the Monday morning following the tragic death of Mr Laverty.
The tragedy has also saddened US Senator Jacinta Price, whose Darwin office is next door to the tavern and bottle shop.
‘This is very difficult to accept. The victim of this horrendous crime is the same age as one of my children,’ she said.
“We cannot continue to experience such horrible and dehumanizing crime and violence. The Territory government may be celebrating a bi-election victory, but the people of the NT continue to suffer.
‘I can only imagine the pain this young man’s family is going through. No more crime, no more violence, it has to stop!’
It is the devastating message that no parent, sibling or loved one can imagine hearing and the pain will be immense.
NT Senior Deputy Minister Nicole Manison also described the incident as a tragedy and expressed condolences to the victim’s family, friends and colleagues.
Blain MP Mark Turner added: “As a parent, even trying to imagine the pain and loss brings tears to my eyes.
‘To the Northern Territory Police, thank you for responding so quickly. St John Ambulance, thank you for trying to save lives every day. I know it will hurt you too.
