Around 3am on 4 February, George Lawson and Mr [William] Smith were woken by the sound of rustling in the straw. Suspecting Aboriginal people of taking wheat, Lawson fired a fowling piece loaded with shot and hit Nolondo. Government Resident Charles Driver later picked shot out of Nolondo’s back, and reported that, in all material points, Nolondo’s statement corroborated by that of Mr Lawson. Lieutenant Governor Robe questioned Lawson’s actions in taking the law into his own hands, and Driver’s failure to hold a Magisterial investigation into the matter.
(See 'The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies' for more details.)