Aboriginal community leaders and politicians are calling for urgent accountability measures after police mistakenly apprehended a 17-year-old Aboriginal boy at gunpoint on a Canberra bus last week.

Last Wednesday, ACT Policing stopped a bus after receiving reports that a young person matching the physical and clothing description of an armed offender was on board. The boy’s family told media this week that he was not asked his name or for identification, but was forced onto the ground, handcuffed, and searched before police compared him with a CCTV image and realised their error.

The boy’s family said the boy is now traumatised, frightened of leaving home or of catching buses. They described what occurred as “a gross violation of a child’s human rights” and as “abuse”.

ACT Policing acknowledged “this would have been a very distressing incident for the young person and the other passengers on the bus”, and apologised.

Police said officers were responding to a knife-wielding offender in Woden Plaza, who had robbed a store, as well as to attempted carjackings in which drivers were threatened with knives and one person was injured in the hand.

ACT Policing Chief Police Officer Scott Lee said he had reviewed body-worn camera footage from the incident. He apologised to the boy and his family, but denied there was institutional racism in the police force; he said he supported the officers’ actions, given the information they had at the time.

“Given police were responding to multiple eyewitness reports of an active armed offender in a heavily populated part of Canberra, officers acted with the immediate aim of preventing a worst-case scenario from occurring — further harm to members of the public,” an ACT Policing spokesperson said.

The alleged offender was arrested that evening in Ainslie, and faced court the next day.

Police said they met the boy, his family, and First Nations community representatives to discuss the incident and the police response; they acknowledged the discussions were “difficult”.

“ACT Policing remains committed to continued engagement and two-way dialogue with the family and wider First Nations community,” a spokesperson said.

A community complaint about ACT Policing’s actions has been lodged, and will be reviewed by AFP Professional Standards Command in consultation with the ACT Ombudsman.

Several peak organisations — the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services, Yeddung Mura Aboriginal Corporation, and the Acting ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Commissioner — have called for a full independent investigation.

Their demands include public findings; standing down the officers involved; formal apologies from the Minister for Police, the Chief Police Officer, and the officers involved; a review of use-of-force protocols involving children; cultural safety and de-escalation training; and clear consequences for breaching policy and child safety standards.

Independent MLA Thomas Emerson said the incident was disturbing and inexcusable.

“I acknowledge police have a difficult job to do, but apprehending an innocent Aboriginal child at gunpoint is not part of that job,” he said.

“This is exactly what institutional racism looks like, and we have to be willing to call it out. Making a mistake is one thing, but there’s no excuse for targeting an Aboriginal child because of how he looks. The criminalisation of our country’s first peoples has to stop.”

Mr Emerson urged ACT Policing to honour government commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

In June, Mr Emerson introduced a private member’s bill to legislate systemic reforms to eliminate institutional racism across all ACT Government agencies. The bill will be debated next month.

The ACT Greens have also called for an immediate investigation of the police officers’ conduct and for the government to explain.

“This is nothing short of despicable,” Greens leader Shane Rattenbury MLA said.

“This kind of violence is systemic. It is tolerated, and even shielded, within parts of our police force. Communities are right to be outraged. They deserve transparency, accountability, and change.”