Mark Bombara, 63, shot and killed Jennifer Petelczyc, 59, and her daughter Gretl, 18, at their home in last week while searching for his ex-wife, before taking his own life.
9News spoke to two former WA police ministers, from either side of politics, as well as two of the most senior former officers to serve WA Police in the past 15 years.
They said if a member of the public presented to a police station with concerns for their safety and information that a gun was missing, immediate action should be taken by police.
The former senior police officers and ministers told 9News in that scenario, police could have acted immediately to attend the registered address, seek out the registered owner, and check the gun was secure.
If it was not they could have seized all guns. Under the Firearms Act, police don’t need a warrant for this.
In response to the comments, WA Police said, “There are circumstances where police can and do act immediately”.
“There is an internal investigation into this specific case to examine the police response,” police said.
Much of the public commentary in the past three days from Police Commissioner Col Blanch and Police Minister Paul Papalia has been about the “threshold of conduct” that would have “triggered” a family violence order.
“On the information that the police had on the night, the circumstances would not have met the threshold of a 72-hour police order,” Blanch said, earlier this week.
“Everything that was spoken about on that night will form part of the investigation.”
Ms Bombara earlier this week said Bombara said she and her mother fled their family home on March 28 and spoke with police on three separate occasions between March 30 and April 2, each time telling them about her father’s gun collection.
“We were ignored by five different male officers across three occasions of reporting,” she said.
“By that point we felt completely helpless and I had to focus on getting mum to safety.
“I did everything I could to protect my mother, and when my father couldn’t find us he murdered her best friend and her best friend’s daughter.”
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.
MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.
Multicultural Mental Health Australia www.mmha.org.au.
National Domestic Violence Service: 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). If you are in immediate danger call triple zero (000).
