Daughter of gunman Mark James Bombara warned police about her father three times before he murdered two women

Mark James Bombara’s daughter has revealed she warned police about him before he murdered Jennifer and Gretl Petelcyzc, prompting the commissioner to respond.

The daughter of Perth gunman Mark James Bombara “raised the alarm” about her father with police three times, telling them she and her mother felt there was a real and imminent threat to their lives, before he murder two women and took his own life.

Last Friday, Bombara shot dead Jennifer Petelczyc, 59, and her daughter Gretl, 18, in their Floreat home after he went there in search of his ex-wife.

Ms Petelcyzc was the best friend of Bombara’s ex-partner, who had left him several weeks earlier after a string of family and domestic violence incidents.

“My mother and I made it clear that our lives were at risk – we were repeatedly ignored, repeatedly failed,” Ms Bombara said.

“These failures have cost the lives of two incredible women.

“I did everything I could to protect my mother — when my father couldn’t find us, he murdered her best friend and her best friend’s daughter.”

Ariel Bombara says police ignored her warnings. Picture: ABC News / Phil Hemingway

On March 28, Ms Bombara and her mother fled their family home in Mosman Park in fear of their lives, escaping an abusive situation.

Between March 30 and April 2, Ms Bombara spoke with police three times about her father, each time telling them about his guns and that they felt their was a real danger to their lives.

“I specifically mentioned that there was a Glock handgun, which was unaccounted for,” she said.

“My understanding is this ultimately would be one of the weapons that my father used to take the lives of two innocent women.”

Jennifer Petelczyc, 59, and her daughter Gretl, 18, were shot dead. Picture: TikTok

Ms Bombara asked police if she and her mother could take out a 72-hour temporary protective order but was told police could not do anything about the situation.

On April 2, Ariel and her mother were escorted by police to their Mosman Park home to collect their belongings.

It was the third time they warned police about Bombara’s guns.

“One officer said, ‘oh don’t worry, we know all about the guns’, and when he called for backup, he warned his fellow officers to wear bullet proof vests,” Ms Bombara said.

“We were ignored by five different male officers across three occasions of reporting.”

Mark Bombara took his own life after committing the murders.

Ms Bombara said she did everything she could to protect her mother, and when her father couldn’t find them he murdered her best friend and her best friend’s daughter.

She said what her father did was an act of domestic violence, and that they were repeatedly ignored and failed by authorities which cost the lives of two incredible women.

“My father should always be considered accountable for his actions,” she said.

“They were his and his alone. However, there are authorities who should have helped us to stop him, and they failed.

“I want answers.”

Following Ms Bombara’s scathing criticisms, Police Commissioner Col Blanch addressed the media, confirming he had read her statement about her interactions with police.

“I have asked that our internal investigation unit conduct an investigation into the three interactions that Ariel talks of with our police officers,” he said.

Ariel Bombara says she and her mother fled domestic violence. Picture: ABC News / Phil Hemingway

“That investigation will determine what was done, what was said and what police responses were decided on at the time with the information they had at the time.”

The commissioner said it was important that they did the investigation thoroughly, which could involve oversight from the Corruption and Crime Commission.

“I want to reinforce that me as the commissioner and the entire WA Police Force are extremely saddened by the tragic events of Friday,” he said.

“If there is anything we can do to improve the way we police going forward, the internal investigation will no doubt bore those details out.”

Mr Blanch confirmed police rejected Ms Bombara’s request for a 72-hour protective order, saying it was a decision that was made based on information they had at the time.

He said it would not have met the threshold for a 72-hour protective order.

“There will be a full investigation into what was said and what was done,” he said.

“The investigation will determine what we knew at the time and what decisions were made at the time, and whether or not they were appropriate.”

Ariel Bombara has spoken about how she tried to warn authorities about the behaviour of her father. Picture: ABC News / Phil Hemingway

Mr Blanch explained that a police order would be issued where officers were concerned about an “imminent threat or risk” to a person and whether they had to separate people.

“I want to remind people this happened seven weeks earlier to this tragedy,” he said.

“It is what we knew at the time, it is the risk we observed at the time, it is the information we had at the time.

“We are all standing here today with the benefit of hindsight into a real tragedy in our community.

“What Ariel is saying in her statement is why I have commenced an investigation to determine the actions by those police officers.”

WA Premier Roger Cook said he was seeking clarification from police. Picture: NewsWire / Sharon Smith

Premier Roger Cook said he understood Ms Bombara had been through a completely harrowing experience and there must be a range of emotions she was experiencing.

“Anger would be one of them and we understand that, and we will obviously seek clarification from the police,” he said.

“It is a distressing detail of what is a disturbing and sickening crime, and we will be seeking clarification from the police about these operational matters.

“Under the new firearms laws that we have before parliament at the moment, the police will have significantly expanded powers to be able to intervene in these circumstances earlier in the piece.”

The WA government is about to introduce new gun laws, which will be the toughest in the nation.

Police Minister Paul Papalia says that the current gun laws are inadequate, Picture: Supplied

The new laws will limit the number of guns a person can own, and gun owners must undergo a mental health check.

Police Minister Paul Papalia said that the current gun laws were inadequate and the new laws would have impacted Bombara from owning guns.

“He would have been impacted by the numerical limits of the new laws in that he would have only been able to possess five firearms,” he said.

“He would have been subject to a health check with a mental health component and the collectors licence that he held would have been subject to far stricter regulations and requirements, which would have prevented him from being approved as a collector.”