Queensland police charge man with murder and attempted murder over Mackay shootings

Queensland police have charged a 31-year-old man with murder and attempted murder over a fatal shooting in north Queensland yesterday.

Transcript

00:00A 31-year-old Mackay man has briefly appeared in court this morning via video link after

00:08he was charged with murder and attempted murder.

00:12He was arrested last night after a 34-year-old woman was fatally shot while sitting in her

00:19parked car in her own driveway in a suburban South Mackay street.

00:25The shooting occurred in front of two 11-year-old girls.

00:29One of the girls was the daughter of the victim of that fatal shooting.

00:35A 66-year-old man who raced in to assist has also sustained bullet wounds to his sternum

00:45and is expected to undergo surgery later today.

00:50The accused was arrested after an hours-long standoff.

00:54Police thought he was in one of the neighbouring properties where the shooting occurred but

01:00he was located three hours after the shooting incident at a service station in South Mackay.

01:09He was arrested and has since briefly faced court this morning.

01:13Specialist police and support services are on their way to Mackay today as well to assist

01:18those two 11-year-old girls who have witnessed this violent incident.

01:24Police have spoken about the impact it's had on them just this morning.

01:28I want to acknowledge and commend their bravery for actually managing to remove themselves

01:33from such a dangerous situation and raise the alarm.

01:37It's incredibly brave and I can't even begin to imagine the trauma that they must be experiencing.

01:43They were next door neighbours but apparently have had no prior interactions or relationship.

01:51The accused is known to police on what local detectives have called some minor offending

01:58in the past but nothing significant.

02:02He did previously have a firearms licence, though he did not hold one at this stage during

02:11this incident and last night, obviously, he was alleged to have been in a possession of

02:16a revolver-style firearm.

02:20His weapons licence and, of course, more circumstances surrounding this incident will all form part

02:25of police's investigation now.

02:27He remains in custody.