A woman is fighting for life after she was allegedly shot by her partner before he turned the gun on himself in a suspected attempted murder suicide.
The woman, 38, was found with a gunshot wound to her abdomen at a house on Sprigg Street at Millner, in Darwin’s north, at 6.30pm on Tuesday.
A 35-year-old man was also found dead with a firearm lying beside him. A neighbour said the man had shot his ex-partner before taking his own life.
The woman was raced to Royal Darwin Hospital where she was operated on and is fighting for her life in the intensive care unit.
The incident marked the second shooting to rock the Northern Territory capital city after a man was found dead. The two shootings are unrelated to each other.
A woman has been left fighting for her life after she was shot by her partner before he turned the gun on himself in a suspected attempted murder suicide
Neighbours told NT News they heard screaming from the house along with the sound of the two shots where the dead man and injured woman were discovered.
The couple were reported to be in a relationship but the woman had been staying at a domestic violence shelter and had only returned to the house with her child to get belongings with the intention of leaving her partner.
An unnamed neighbour described what happened as an ‘ambush’ saying the woman was invited back into the home by the alleged shooter.
‘The level of domestic violence in this town is appalling,’ he said.
‘It hits differently when it’s on your street.’
Another neighbour Kim Leonard-Bond said the man’s brother was performing chest compressions on one of the persons before paramedics arrived.
Ms Leonard-Bond said she had known the family since the brothers were boys.
‘I just think as a mother … I just think, Oh my god how do you cope with the loss of your child, let alone one that killed himself in your house?’ she said.
Friends were seen visiting the home on Wednesday morning with one man weeping quietly in his car just metres from the house.
Major Crime detective Paul Morrissey was unable to confirm if there was a history of domestic violence, or if the woman was staying in a shelter but did confirm other family members were at the home during the shooting.
‘It’s concerning for neighbours. It’s obviously distressing for family members and friends of the persons involved and also a confronting scene for first responders,’ he said.
He said that investigations are in their ‘infancy’ but did not anticipate any arrests in the suspected attempted murder suicide.
Police were still at the property on Wednesday morning with evidence markers seen near a pair of men’s running shoes.
Detectives were also interviewing local residents and seeking witnesses.
A report is being prepared for the coroner.
![The wounded woman was rushed to the Royal Darwin Hospital where she was operated on and remains in a critical condition](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/05/00/76183991-12595339-image-a-5_1696462672495.jpg)
The wounded woman was rushed to the Royal Darwin Hospital where she was operated on and remains in a critical condition
Earlier on Tuesday, police were called ato another shooting in the northern Darwin suburb of Karama where a 63-year-old man was found dead at 4.30pm.
A resident said he saw a paddy wagon come ‘flying around’ the street near the Eaton Place home on Tuesday evening.
‘Quickly after that, there were two, three, four cop cars and two ambulances, all here within a couple of minutes,’ he said.
‘I didn’t hear any noise or anything leading up to it, and we were outside.’
Mr Morrissey said a firearm was seized at the scene and the circumstances surrounding the death are under investigation.
‘These incidents can happen anywhere, I suppose, but there doesn’t appear to be any sort of ongoing concern in regards to either these incidents,’ he said of both shootings.
Police are investigating to see if the guns were licenced and lawfully held at both properties.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles expressed her sympathies to those affected by the two tragedies.
‘My thoughts are with the family, the friends and the neighbours of these incidents and we’ll allow police to undertake the appropriate investigations,’ she said
‘(It’s) something that we don’t see every day in the Territory and quite significant from the advice I’ve been provided.’
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