BREAKING: Four children and three adults dead in 'mass tragedy'
Seven people have died at a rural property in Western Australia.
- by
Katherine Davison
Four children and three adults have been found dead at a rural property in Western Australia.
'Police are currentlyresponding to what I can onlydescribe as an horrific incident in Osmington, 20km north-east ofMargaret River. It is early in thisinvestigation,' WA Police CommissionerChris Dawson told a police press conference on Friday.
'Based on what we doknow, this is clearly a tragedy. Atabout 5.15am this morning, policewere called to a rural property onthe outskirts of this property atMargaret River.
'Upon arrival, policelocated seven persons deceased. Fourchildren and three adults. Thebodies of two adults were locatedoutside, five bodies were located inside a building on the ruralproperty.
'Two firearms have beenlocated at the scene. We are tryingto locate other members of thefamily and friends. I'm not in aposition to release any furtherdetails about the identities of thedeceased.
'This devastating tragedywill no doubt have a lasting impacton the families concerned, the wholecommunity and, in particular, the local communities in our south-west,' the commissioner continued.
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Homicide Squad detectives from Perthare assisting local police ininvestigating the circumstancessurrounding this tragedy.
'They willbe supported by other specialistpolice units. A police chaplain isin attendance to provide support toall persons, officers and othersthat are impacted by what hashappened,' the commissioner said.
'As I'm sure you'dappreciate it, it's not appropriatefor me to speculate on any furthermatters. I can only say at thispoint in time, we have no information to raise concern aboutwider public safety issues at thispoint in time.
'We will provide anupdate later today as thisinvestigation continues. I will takequestions but, as I've said, there'slittle more that I can add at thispoint in time.'
'This is an horrific tragedy for any person involved and clearly officers and other first responders attending these sorts of scenes is very tragic,' the commissioner said.
'We have support with police chaplains and other counsellors will also be in attendance. We'll get on with our job but regrettably, these tragedies do take their toll on everyone.'
The police received a phone call shortly before their attendance at the scene, the commissioner confirmed.
'I'm not going to release any details at this point in time. It's far too early for me to confirm about that. We'll let the investigation run its course. The reason police went to the property was from a telephone call which we've recorded,' he said.
'I'm not going to release any details about the call. Not prepared to confirm about the identity of any of the deceased persons at this point in time. We'll still trying to locate next of kin.
'They appear to be residents of the property but, again, I'm not going to confirm the identities because we're still trying to locate family.
'It's a rural property. Five persons deceased. The four children and one adult and two adults located deceased not far away from the building.'
Katherine DavisonKatherine is Executive Editor of News & Features for New Idea and a real-life specialist with 17 years of experience in Australia and the UK