Young couple Chelsea Ireland and Lukasz Klosowski shot dead on rural property near Millicent
The lives of young couple Chelsea Ireland and Lukasz Klosowski, both 19, were tragically cut short on Saturday night when they were allegedly murdered at a family function.
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Two university students who had been dating for several years were visiting family on a rural property when they were shot dead in the state’s South-East.
Lukasz Klosowski and Chelsea Ireland, both 19, were allegedly murdered on Saturday night.
The 46-year-old man charged with their murders faced Mount Gambier Magistrates Court on Monday afternoon.
Chelsea and Lukasz visited a rental property at Mount McIntyre, near Millicent, for a gathering on Saturday.
Police were called to the home after reports of an incident about 11.30pm.
It is unclear who alerted authorities to the deaths.
Police arrived at the home and discovered the bodies inside.
Chelsea had just started studying a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering at Adelaide University this year and worked at Baker’s Delight on Gouger Street.
Lukasz was studying journalism at UniSA’s Magill campus.
Their Facebook pages show they had travelled overseas together.
Chelsea was a graduate of St Mary’s College while Lukasz completed Year 12 at Christian Brothers College, both in the Adelaide CBD.
St Mary’s principal Clare Nocka said the school community was “shocked and devastated”.
“The staff community remembers Chelsea as a bright and engaged young woman who was connected with her community and embraced all elements of school life,” she said.
Christian Brothers College principal Daniel Lynch said his school community was also devastated by the tragedy.
“Students from the class of 2018 have rallied together to support each other as they grieve over the loss of their ‘brother’,” he said.
“We will be reaching out to them in the days ahead to provide an opportunity for them to share their memories and stories of Lukasz, and in particular his love for his friends and for his school.”
Both schools have organised counsellors to support staff, students and old scholars, and both principals passed on condolences to the other school community.
Distraught family and friends of the couple are struggling to come to terms with the brutal nature of the incident.
One friend described Chelsea as a “beautiful person”.
Lukasz – whose name is understood to be pronounced as “Woo-kash” and was known as Whiplash to his mates – was always happy-go-lucky and had an interest in cars, one person said.
Kalangadoo Hotel was closed on Sunday after news of the tragedy rocked the community.
A local woman said locals gathered to console each other over the “awful” loss.
“Kalangadoo is in shock,” she said.
Police say a family event was occurring at the residence and the couple were attending for the weekend.
“What I can say … police are treating this as a shooting incident,” said Inspector Campbell Hill, adding it was a tragedy for all involved.
“(We) recognise again that this is a tragic event and the impacts of this will not only be felt for the particular families involved … but also the south eastern community,” Inspector Hill said.
Major Crime detectives and Forensic Response officers flew to the scene from Adelaide and are gathering information for their investigation as a search of the premises continues.
Inspector Hill could not say if a firearm had been seized yet.
He asked for public assistance to help with the investigation.
Inspector Hill said any information that would assist them in piecing together the relationships of the people involved would greatly help their investigation.
The deaths have shaken the local community.
Neighbour Ralph Alberti said he had never met the family, who are understood to have moved to the area several years earlier.
“It’s a little bit strange,” Mr Alberti said. “Nothing like that happens around here.”
Other neighbours said they heard no signs of commotion on the night of the tragedy.
The owner of the rental property where the killings occurred declined to comment.