A man who shot two women at a Perth home before turning the weapon on himself in a horror double murder-suicide was looking for his ex-wife, police have revealed.
WA police confirmed the 63-year-old man knew the older of the two dead women, a 59-year-old, as a good friend of his former partner.
Both the man and the woman died at the Berkeley Crescent residence in the upmarket Perth suburb of Floreat.
The older woman’s daughter, 18, was transported to hospital with serious injuries but died on Saturday morning.
At a press conference on Saturday afternoon, WA Police Detective Inspector David Gorton revealed the man, a registered gun owner, visited the house looking for his ex-wife before shooting the two women.
Police arrived at the property to hear the man fire a final shot, believed to be the man taking his own life.
‘The 63-year-old was a licensed firearms holder in the state of Western Australia,’ Det Insp Gorton said.
‘He was the owner of the firearms we believe – at this point of time – were used.’
He also confirmed the man was known to police.
A man shot two women at a Perth home before turning the weapon on himself in a horror murder-suicide, police have revealed (pictured, forensic police at the scene)
It’s believed the man in his 60s knew the older of the two women, in her 50s, from a mutual contact. Both the man and the woman died at the Berkeley Crescent residence in the upmarket Perth suburb of Floreat (pictured, forensic police at the scene)
Police were called to the home in the city’s inner north-west at about 4.30pm local time on Friday after a gunman opened fire
Det Insp Gorton also confirmed the man’s ex-wife and a daughter were in the care of the homicide squad.
‘We are providing any support we can to them.
‘Obviously, they’re very distressed by the circumstances and WA police will make the appropriate referrals to them for counselling.’
Police were called to the home in the city’s inner north-west at about 4.30pm local time on Friday after a gunman opened fire.
The woman who later died was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital in a critical condition.
All those involved are believed to know each other and the police are treating the incident as being related to domestic violence.
Police were at the scene of the shooting overnight.
‘The incident is contained and there are no ongoing threats to the public,’ a police spokesman said.
‘A large number of police resources are in attendance at the scene.’
A police helicopter was dispatched to the area and circled overhead as part of the response.
Neighbours described the street as ‘friendly’ and said a mother and her two adult daughters lived at the house, The West Australian reported.
Neighbours described the street as ‘friendly’ and said a mother and her two adult daughters lived at the house, The West Australian reported
Police rushed to Berkeley Crescent in the Perth suburb of Floreat on Friday afternoon
A police helicopter circled overhead at the height of the large scale police operation
Neighbour Archer Beattie told 9News he heard tyres screeching, driving, ‘lots of sirens, and then the occasional crack’.
A neighbour called David said his daughter was in the backyard with the family dog and heard gunshots.
‘She ran inside and locked the doors and waited until we got home. She said she just knew they were gunshots,’ he said.
‘She said it was three or four shots.
‘We know the family (at that address) reasonably well and just hope they are OK.’
Another neighbour, Indiana Bond, told the West the incident as it developed was ‘quite scary’.
‘It was a bit of a rollercoaster … there were about two people around 18 or 19 talking out the front to a police officer, then about 15 minutes later we hear sirens going past,’ he said.
‘There was a whole shebang going on and so we came outside to have a look and then we saw the (TRG) outside the house.
‘Then we hear ‘bang, bang, bang, bang’ these shots going off, then we saw police roll up, ambulances roll up and they blocked off the whole street immediately.
‘There wasn’t anything rapid fire, but it was a lot of single shots so it sounded like a back-and-forth kind of action … it was quite scary.’
In a social media post State MP Christine Tonkin said it would take time for the circumstances of the tragedy to become clear.
‘We know that the people in this neighbourhood are shocked, confused and grieving. It will take time to make sense of what has happened and for life to return to a semblance of normality.
‘In the meantime, let’s be gentle with each other.’
Floreat is an upmarket suburb about 8kms north-west of the Perth CBD known for million-dollar homes and manicured lawns.
The area remains closed off the public as detectives and forensic officers investigate the scene.
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