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Waiting For Elijah

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Waiting For Elijah

By: Kate Wild
Narrated by: Kate Wild
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About this listen

In 2009, in the NSW country town of Armidale, a mentally ill young man is shot dead by a police officer. Senior Constable Andrew Rich claims he ‘had no choice’ other than to shoot 24-year-old Elijah Holcombe - Elijah had run at him roaring with a knife, he tells police.

Some witnesses to the shooting say otherwise, though, and this act of aggression doesn't fit with the sweet, sensitive, but troubled young man that Elijah's family and friends knew him to be. The shooting devastates Elijah's family and the police officer alike.

So what happened in that Armidale laneway - and how could it have been avoided? Waiting for Elijah is the culmination of journalist Kate Wild's six-year investigation - an investigation that not only seeks to answer these questions but also poses some vitally important ones of its own: why is it still taboo to talk about mental illness in our society? Is it fair to expect police to be first responders in mental health crises? If the community insists this job belongs to police, how can these interactions be improved?

Written with clear-eyed compassion and a compelling narrative drive, Waiting for Elijah is an account of a tragedy that didn’t have to happen. It is also an intense forensic deconstruction of the extended legal proceedings that followed and a heartbreaking portrait of a family’s grief.

©2018 Kate Wild (P)2018 Audible, Ltd
Freedom & Security Mental Health Psychology Social Sciences

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One of the best new authors in Australia

This factual investigation of the shooting of Elijah Holcomb Is written with the deepest respect & compassion for all involved. Along the way Kate Wild lays bare her own soul to share the intense vulnerability. Narrated brilliantly by the author Waiting for Elijah is possibly going to be my book of 2019.
I’ve loved every word.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.