Victims of horror murder-suicide identified

The victims of a horrific double suicide have been identified as shock and grief from the event reverberates across the country.

Jennifer Petelczyc, 59, was murdered alongside her daughter Gretl, 18, at their Floreat home in Perth by a 63-year-old man, who turned the gun on himself.

The Petelczycs were friends of the man's ex-wife, police said Saturday.

“The man discharged a firearm, killing the 59-year-old woman and seriously injuring the younger woman,” WA Police Detective Inspector David Gorton said on Saturday afternoon.

“St John provided emergency care to the young woman of the home. She was then taken to the Royal Perth Hospital, but sadly she tragically died.”

“The deceased woman, aged 59, was a friend of the man’s ex-wife.”

The man held a firearms license and owned the firearm used in the outbreak of violence.

Detective Inspector David Gorton said police arrived at the crime scene and heard a final gunshot.

“We know the police were in the street when the last shot was fired and we believe the last shot was from the man who took his own life,” he said.

He said a family member alerted police to the unfolding horror.

“We received phone calls from a family member,” he said.

“We are still looking into these particular calls and how they learned what was happening at the home. This is still the subject of the investigation.

He said the man's ex-wife and Ms Petelczyc were “good friends” and the woman and man knew each other or had “met before”.

Police do not yet know how many shots were fired.

He said police would characterize the outburst of violence as a double murder-suicide.

It will not be considered an incident of domestic violence because the man and woman were not related.

He also said the man was known to police but had no history of violence and was not under police surveillance.

The victims' family and the man's ex-wife are receiving support from the police, he said.

Gretl attended St Hilda's Anglican Girls' School before studying at the University of Western Australia, according to her Facebook profile.

Ms Petelczyc was widowed after losing her husband Jon in 2019.

The killings come as Australia grapples with a growing crisis of male violence against women.

Independent Curtin MP Kate Chaney, whose electorate includes Floreat, said she spoke about the incident with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday morning.

“Enough is enough,” she said.

“So many women I spoke to in my community last night and this morning feel exhausted and angry because more and more women are dying at the hands of a man.

“I spoke to the Prime Minister this morning and he offers his condolences to our community and I reiterated to him again that we need a sense of urgency on this issue.”

WA Police were called to Berkeley Cr in Floreat on Friday around 4.30pm after reports of a gunman shooting at a house.

Specialist detectives and the Tactical Response Team were just some of the many police officers dispatched to the scene.

The investigation into the circumstances of this death continues.

Neighbor Archer Beattie told 9News he heard tires screeching, rolling, “lots of sirens, then occasional cracking.”

The house is located in a quiet street and close to the Forum Floreat.

“I’m thinking of Floreat’s family, neighbors and community this evening,” said state Assemblywoman and former social worker Katrina Stratton.

MP Christine Tonkin said piecing together what happened would take time.

“We don't know exactly what happened or why it happened, but we do know that tragically two people died and another was injured on a quiet street in Floreat,” she posted before the announcement of the death of the third person.

“We know residents in this neighborhood are shocked, confused and grieving. It will take time to make sense of what happened and for life to return to some semblance of normalcy. In the meantime, let's be gentle with each other.

Floreat is an affluent suburb, with a median sales price of $1.83 million, almost three times the median price in Perth.

It sits in a corner of expensive, established suburbs between the Swan River and the Indian Ocean.

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