Residents of Collinsville reveal shock at shooting death of three people

Residents of the mining town of Collinsville have reacted with shock following the shooting deaths of three people on Thursday, with some speaking about tensions in the area.

Residents of the quiet, historical mining town of Collinsville are reacting to yesterday’s tragic shooting of a cattle family with a sense of numb shock.

The town have woken to front pages plastered with faces some barely knew, and others are mourning.

Sitting about 90km of arduous, cross-country driving away from the property where three members of the Schwarz family were slain, many have reacted with surprise to the situation.

One resident was shocked to see unrecognisable faces attached to the killing.

Maree and Mervyn Schwarz were among three people who died at Bogie on Thursday. Picture Supplied

The Schwarz family, who are relatively new to the area having only moved there in the last year, were recognised by some, who spoke openly about misgivings and long bristling tension over cattle ownership in the area.

“It used to be a case where farmers would approach disputes gentlemanly, but those days are long gone,” one resident with knowledge of the families involved said.

Flowers placed in tribute to three people killed in a shooting at Bogie on Thursday. Picture: Daniel Shirkie

The Schwarz property on Shannonvale road sits nearly 70km off Peter Delemothe road in Bogie, down a tumbling, precarious gravel road crisscrossed with dried up creek beds, challenging terrain and stray, grazing cow herds along the route.

A bouquet of fresh memorial flowers have now been laid at where the road leads out onto the highway.

That road, Normanby, is used to little traffic, but has seen countless police vehicles and ambulances over the past twenty four hours as emergency services patrol and investigate.

A cordon set up by police prevents anyone from getting within 10km of the properties at the heart of the dispute, with plain clothes officers turning around any vehicles hardened enough to make the climb.

Midway down the trip, a rustic sign invites visitors to a property at Flagstone, believed to where the gunman’s lone survivor fled after being shot.

There, amid a wealth of farming vehicles and tools, sits a small, family home where another farming family are struggling to address the tragedy that happened.

A terse family patriarch turned away any and all questions from the press, saying his family were ‘too close’ to the people involved.