EXCLUSIVE
A mother is fighting for life after being shot by her ex-partner in a suspected murder-suicide attempt.
Ralph Donald, 35, shot his estranged partner at his family’s Millner home, in Darwin’s northern suburbs, about 6.30pm on Tuesday before turning the gun on himself.
Donald died at the scene while his ex, 38, suffered wounds to her abdomen and was rushed to Royal Darwin Hospital, where she remains in a critical condition.
Daily Mail Australia understands the injured woman is an Irish national and the former couple share a young daughter.
Ralph Donald (pictured) took his own life after shooting his partner on Tuesday night
Donald’s family declined to comment when contacted on Thursday.
Videos posted online over the past 12 months show Donald playing with the couple’s young child at his parents’ Sprigg St home, where he would later take his life.
In the comments section, relatives noted that the child ‘looks like daddy’.
His 38-year-old ex-partner is fighting for life in hospital
Major Crime detective Paul Morrissey told reporters on Wednesday the couple had both lived at the home ‘at various times’.
The woman had reportedly been staying at a domestic violence shelter and had only returned to the house with their child to get belongings with the intention of leaving her partner.
An unnamed neighbour described what happened as an ‘ambush’, alleging that the woman was invited back into the home by the 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 Donald’s brother was performing chest compressions on one of the two shot 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.
Detectives were called to the Sprigg St home (pictured) around 6.30pm on Tuesday night
Videos posted online show Donald with his daughter at his family’s home where the tragedy took place on Tuesday
Friends were seen visiting the home on Wednesday morning with one man weeping quietly in his car just metres from the house.
Detective Morrissey was unable to confirm if Donald had a history of domestic violence, or if the woman was staying in a shelter.
However, he 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.
Detectives were also interviewing local residents and seeking witnesses.
A report is being prepared for the coroner.
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Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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