"Repeatedly ignored": Daughter of Perth gunman breaks her silence
The daughter of the Perth man who has been accused of murdering a 59-year-old woman and her 18-year-old daughter has broken her silence.
Mark Bombara shot and killed Jennifer Petelczyc and her youngest daughter Gretl at their home in Floreat, Western Australia, on Friday afternoon while searching for his ex-wife before taking his own life.
Now, his daughter Ariel has released a powerful statement sharing how she repeatedly warned police of the danger he posed as a licensed firearms holder, admitting that her and her mother had feared for their lives.
"We were ignored by five different male officers across three occasions of reporting," Ms Bombara 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."
Ms Bombara explained that her and her mother fled their family home on March 28th, "in fear of our lives and to remove ourselves from an abusive situation", and over the span of four days, contacted police three times to notify them about her father's gun collection.
"I felt there was a real and imminent threat to our lives," she said.
"I specifically mentioned that there was a Glock handgun which was unaccounted for," Ms Bombara said.
"My understanding is this ultimately would be one of the weapons my father used take the lives of two innocent women."
She was adamant that the deaths of Jennifer and Gretl Petelczyc were "an act of domestic violence".
"My mother and I made clear that lives were at risk, and we were repeatedly ignored. Repeatedly failed. Those failures have cost the lives of two incredible women."
"My father should always be considered accountable for his actions. They were his and his alone, however, there are authorities who should have helped us stop him, and they failed."
"I want answers."
Following the deaths of Ms Petelczyc and her daughter, WA Police did not classify them as domestic violence-related.
A police spokesperson said in a statement, "Police have always accepted that the motivation for these crimes were family and domestic violence (FDV) related, however the crimes committed were murder, and ultimately the contributing factors will be a matter for the coroner to consider."
Image credits: ABC News / 9News