A man who shot dead a mother and daughter in their Perth home as he searched for his ex-wife, before turning the gun on himself, was a registered gun owner.
Mark Bombara, 63, killed 59-year-old Jennifer Petelczyc, who was a friend of his ex-wife, and her 18-year-old daughter Gretl, at their Floreat home on Friday, in what WA Premier Roger Cook described as a “chilling and horrific” attack.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Tributes flow for mother and daughter murdered at their Floreat home.
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He was reportedly searching for his wife when he went to the home and fatally shot them and then himself as police arrived at the property. However, it has since been revealed his ex-wife was “not residing at the address”.
WA Police Minister Paul Papalia on Monday also confirmed that Bombara was known to police because his ex-wife had requested help moving out of their shared home in late March following a series of family and domestic violence-related incidents.
He said Bombara did not have a criminal record and a restraining order was not in place at the time of the murders.
According to The West Australian, Bombara was on the phone to his daughter in the seconds before he pulled the trigger and she heard someone scream: “Put the gun down” before several shots were fired.
On Monday, WA Police confirmed Bombara owned 11 guns under a recreational shooter’s permit and two pistols under a collector’s licence, one of which was used to kill Jennifer and Gretl.
The WA government is in the process of toughening its gun laws with a $64 million buyback scheme underway and legislative changes on foot to restrict the number of firearms people can own.
However, the crime has prompted the government to consider even stricter gun laws, including giving police the power to seize weapons following family and domestic violence incidents.
Papalia said WA’s proposed laws would be the toughest in the country; that they would have prevented Bombara from obtaining the collector’s licence; and that he would have been limited to owning five weapons.
“This individual, sadly, was a fit and proper person, right up until the time he committed that act and he was a law-abiding firearms owner right up until he wasn’t,” he said.
“Under the current law that’s what happens and that’s why we want to make the laws tougher.”
Bombara would also have been forced to undergo a health check with a mental health component.
Police are expected to formally brief Cook about the circumstances surrounding the murders.
The premier said the shooting was a “senseless” crime motivated by domestic violence, and the victims were innocent people who had died helping a friend in need.
Cook urged the community to reflect on the deaths, which he said were part of a “society-wide issue” of gendered violence.
Police were called to the home in Perth’s affluent western suburbs about 4.30pm on Friday after reports of gunshots, arriving as the last shot was fired.
Officers rushed the younger victim to Royal Perth Hospital but she could not be saved.
Tributes continue to flow at the victims’ Berkeley Cres home, and Gretl’s former school, St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, has opened its chapel for those wishing to pay respects.
“The Petelczyc family were well respected within the school community,” principal Fiona Johnston said.
The University of Western Australia said Gretl was a dedicated student undertaking a Bachelor of Science and a talented UWA Water Polo Club member.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened at the loss of such a young life,” UWA Vice-Chancellor Amit Chakma told staff and students.
Women’s safety charity, White Ribbon Australia, said it was “enraging that once again a man has resorted to murder as the ultimate full stop on the end of a relationship”.
“In this instance, the women were murdered because they provided support to the killer’s wife when the relationship ended,” chief executive Melissa Perry said.
“Murdered for supporting a friend.”
– with AAP
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