The worst since Port Arthur
FOUR CHILDREN AMONG SEVEN DEAD
SEVEN people from the same family, including four children, have been gunned down in Australia’s worst mass shooting in more than two decades.
Cynda and Peter Miles are believed to have died at their farm near Margaret River, Western Australia, yesterday.
Their daughter Katrina and her four children — Taye, 13, Rylan, 11, Arye, 10, and Kadyn Cockman, 8 — were also killed.
All five were found dead in a shed which had been converted into living quarters.
SEVEN people from the same family, including four children, have been gunned down in Australia’s worst mass shooting in more than two decades.
Cynda and Peter Miles are believed to have died early yesterday at their farm in Osmington, near Margaret River in Western Australia.
Their daughter Katrina and her four children — Taye, 13, Rylan, 11, Arye, 10, and Kadyn Cockman, 8 — were also killed. Those five were found dead in a shed converted into living quarters on the farm, which the owners named Forever Dreaming.
Police discovered the bodies when called to the property just after 5am. WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said the person who made the phone call was a man.
Police were last night working on the theory that the man who made that call was the killer and among the dead.
Two firearms were found by officers confronted by the appalling scene. Within hours, police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the shootings. Mr Dawson said the incident was one of the worst the force would ever have to deal with.
“The loss of any life is tragic, but four children and three adults, this is a significant tragedy,” he said.
“This devastating incident will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community, and in particular the communities in the southwest. These tragedies take their toll on everybody.”
WA Premier Mark McGowan described the multiple homicide as “appalling, awful and terrible”.
“This is a very distressing day for Western Australia,” he said.
Margaret River shire president Pamela Townshend said the family was well known locally and well liked.
“This incident has shocked our community to the core,” she said.
“As a small and close-knit community, many people are likely to know or be connected in some way to the deceased.”
Cynda and Peter Miles were well known in the Margaret River area — Cynda for her extensive community involvement and Peter for his longstanding and successful farm maintenance business. Katrina was also known locally and her four children had been or were students at Margaret River Primary School. They had also been homeschooled.
All four were believed to have been autistic. Their father, Aaron Cockman, is a local carpenter and builder.
It is understood the pair had been involved in an acrimonious split, which had led Katrina and the children to move in with her parents on the idyllic, 30 acre property.
The Miles’ farm, which was bought in January 2015, had two residences and was sold as a “piece of paradise” in one of Australia’s most popular holiday destinations.
But it will now become the scene of an intense forensic investigation, with police on the ground estimating they could be there for up to five days.
Before yesterday, the most recent mass shooting in Australia involved the deaths of five people — Kim Hunt, 41, her children Fletcher, 10, Mia, 8, and Phoebe, 6, and Geoff Hunt, Kim’s husband and the children’s father. That was later ruled a murder-suicide.
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