A Queensland man accused of shooting a woman dead in her driveway as she prepared to leave for a sporting activity with two children had previously lost his gun licence “as a result of his conduct”.
Ryan Geoffrey Cole, 31, has been charged with the murder of 34-year-old Natalie Jane Frahm and the attempted murder of 66-year-old James McGill after he allegedly shot him as he came to her aid at Robb Pl in South Mackay on Wednesday afternoon.
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The two children in the car, both girls aged 11 and 12, ran to McGill — a neighbour — before Cole shot him through the hand and chest.
He was rushed to Mackay Base Hospital with non-fatal injuries. He remains there in a serious but stable condition.
“That’s a horrid situation. A life has been lost in front of children by a really terrible act of violence,” Queensland Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said on Thursday.
Cole is accused of driving away, sparking an emergency lockdown of the area and a police manhunt. However, he was arrested outside a nearby service station hours later.
The commissioner revealed that Cole lost his firearm’s licence in 2021 “as a result of his conduct and other charges that he’d faced”, sparking an investigation into how he had acquired what witnesses described as a revolver-style gun.
“We will look really closely not only at what occurred yesterday, but the lead up to that in terms of this person’s access to weapons and how he might have got that weapon,” Gollschewski said.
“These are things that concern us greatly.
“There are many licensed weapons holders in Queensland and, by and large, they’re very responsible people. That’s why we have such a strict regime in terms of licensing and our ability to inspect, and what we can do if people do the wrong thing.”
Police had not found any evidence of Cole having a history of mental health problems.
His contact with police throughout his life had been “minimal”, Detective Acting Superintendent Emma Novosel said
“There’d been no recent calls for service in relation to any sort of disturbance or any mental health issue,” she said on Thursday.
Police have refused to confirm if Cole had access to other weapons.
No motive for his alleged attack has been established.
“It’s not believed that the man and woman were known to each other; however, preliminary investigations indicate they lived on the same street,” Novosel said.
“Certainly at this stage, the motives behind the attack on this woman and man are unknown, so there’ll be further investigations that are undertaken to determine what’s bought about this incident.”
Cole was arrested after allegedly driving from the scene in a silver Mitsubishi Triton before police arrived, sparking an emergency lockdown of the area.
He was found driving on the Bruce Hwy and was arrested at a service station at nearby Paget at about 8pm.
He briefly faced Mackay Magistrates Court on Thursday.
He was remanded in custody as the matter was adjourned to Friday.