Baby shot dead by mother!! , man wounded at Gracemere near Rockhampton

The boy’s 22-year-old mother is also dead after she crashed a ute into a tree shortly after the shootings at Gracemere, near Rockhampton, last night.

The eight-month-old baby and his father, 36, were taken to Rockhampton Base Hospital, but the boy was pronounced dead on arrival.

Rockhampton police inspector John Wacker said a small handgun had been found in the ute the woman was driving.

“A firearm was located at the crash scene,” Insp Wacker told reporters this afternoon.

The father has undergone surgery for a gunshot wound to the stomach and remains in a critical condition.

Police said a neighbour found the boy inside the Zamia Way home after the injured man staggered outside seeking help.

Other neighbours in the street have told of hearing a gunshot.

“We only heard one gunshot, but apparently there were more,” Jodiee Bennett, 35, who lives opposite the house where the shootings happened, told AAP.

“A man went in there and found the little fella on the floor. There was screaming and everything … because someone had found the baby hurt. They were calling out to get an ambulance.

“They thought he had hit his head on the tiles …”

She said her own three children were very upset.

“It’s really freaked our kids out.”

 

Ms Bennett said her husband, Tex, saw a utility truck being driven away from the home a short time after the gunshot was heard.

Regional Crime Co-ordinator Jon Wacker said a neighbour discovered the baby in the house after a woman left the premises.

“Neighbours of the first residence had entered the dwelling after the female occupant had left and located a eight-month-old baby with a gunshot wound,” he told the ABC.

Another neighbour Lisa Willis said the shooting had come as a shock to the community.

“It’s a very quiet street. We don’t have anything like that happen here,” she told AAP. “We’re in shock. It’s a sad tragedy.”

www.couriermail.com.au/news/baby-shot-dead-man-wounded-in-rockhampton/story-e6freon6-1225888749204

Dott Fechner, who knows the family, told AAP the community would rally around and support them at this difficult time.

“The community is very moved and very emotional,” she said.

“It’s a tragedy for a small community and we will be asking ourselves whether there was something we could have done.”

She said the father had a couple of other children, worked in a mine out of town, played football and was well respected in the area.

Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said he was shocked by the tragedy.


“We are a very close community up here,” Mr Carter said. “That’s the way we function. This incident will have a significant impact the community, especially as we care so much for children and young people. To see a young couple involved in something like this is an absolute tragedy.”


Mr Carter extended his condolences to the family of those involved and said the situation would come as a blow to the entire Gracemere community.

A major incident room has been set up at the Rockhampton police station.

Police are hoping to speak to the injured man as soon as his condition improves.