Aussie town in shock after family shootings

A rural Australian town was in shock yesterday after a mother and her three children were shot dead at a farmhouse in a ‘ horrific scene’ and a body believed to the father was pulled from a dam.

Police said the body retrieved from the waterway at the property by divers yesterday afternoon was found with a gun and had ‘significant injuries’, although they did not provide further details.

The search of the dam followed the grisly discovery of four family members at a homestead near the town of Lockhart about 535 kilometres southwest of Sydney on Tuesday afternoon.

The victims were named in local media as Kim Hunt, 44, her son Fletcher, 10, and daughters Mia, eight, and Phoebe, six.

The children’s bodies were inside the house, while the mother was found dead on a path at the back

We have five deceased people. We believe they were all members of the same family. Bob Noble, Wagga Wagga Superintendent

of the house.

The body pulled from the dam was believed to be 44-year- old Geoff Hunt, the father, with the homicide squad now taking over the investigation.

Wagga Wagga Superintendent Bob Noble said the body had “significant injuries which are not inconsistent with others that we’ve seen last night”.

“We have five deceased people. We believe they were all members of the same family,” he said. “There’s nothing to lend us to believe that there are any other victims or persons of interest.”

Noble said it was too early to speculate on what may have led to the killings.

He added that the deaths had taken their toll on the local community and police officers, some of whom lived in the small town.

“It’s been a difficult investigation and operation generally and to that end, there’s a lot of people in town here that are suffering greatly,” Noble said.

“I spent some time at the school (where the children studied) this morning and there’s little hearts breaking all over the place.”

Earlier, he described the crime scene as ‘horrific’, adding: “I don’t think even the most hardened professional could remain unmoved by what’s out there. — AFP