Police have found three firearms in an alleged gunman’s home, including a handgun they believe was used to shoot dead a woman in front of two children.
Ryan Geoffrey Cole, 31, is accused of killing his neighbour, Natalie Frahm, as she sat in a car with two children in the driveway of her Mackay home in north Queensland, on 19 June.
Cole was arrested by police after a manhunt across the regional city.
Police are investigating how Cole allegedly obtained the firearms after a weapons licence was revoked three years ago.
Detective Acting Supt Emma Novosel said investigators had recovered a homemade, inoperable long-arm rifle, an air rifle and a 22-calibre pistol.
She said preliminary forensic and ballistic advice led police to believe the pistol was the firearm allegedly used to kill Frahm and seriously injure James McGill.
The 66-year-old McGill was allegedly shot by Cole as he came to Frahm’s aid after the two girls, aged 11 and 12, escaped the car.
He suffered hand and chest injuries as a result.
“None of the weapons located at that residence are currently, nor have they been previously, registered,” Supt Novosel said of the recovered firearms.
“Investigations are ongoing into the origin of the pistol and how it came to be in the possession of the defendant.”
Tributes have poured in for Frahm, with a GoFundMe fundraiser also set up for the two girls.
The fundraiser had raised more than $23,000 by Monday.
Cole has been remanded in custody after being charged with the murder of Frahm and the attempted murder of McGill.
