As the close-knit community of Kellerberrin comes to terms with the deaths of two men on Thursday, talk has turned to what drove a 25-year-old “model citizen” to murder his workmate before turning the gun on himself.
Lachlan Bowles was the subject of a high-tension police manhunt yesterday after his workmate, father of one Terry Czernowski, was shot dead just after 8.30am at Moylan Grain Silos on Mather Road.
Lachlan Bowles (top right) shot dead Terry Czernowski (bottom right) at Moynes Grain Silos in Kellerberrin on Thursday before turning the gun on himself as police attempted to negotiate. Credit: Peppiatt/Facebook
Bowles fled the scene, sparking a police search before he was found hours later in a nearby paddock, wearing camouflage clothing, armed and waving a Nazi flag.
Police spent hours attempting to negotiate peacefully with the man but about 4pm, he turned the gun on himself and took his own life.
The shooting has left the small country town in a state of shock.
“It was completely unexpected,” one local, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said on Friday.
“It was just completely out of the blue.”
Kellerberrin went into lockdown while multiple police units looked for the gunman, before urgently releasing his name and photo to the public in a bid to track the armed man down.
No one ever thought Bowles could be capable of such a crime.
“He was basically a model citizen,” the local said.
“He looked totally harmless and was revered because of his volunteer work with the ambulance.”
Bowles had received a community award after volunteering with the local St John Ambulance.
But it’s believed he had a bigger ambition. Locals say Bowles attempted to enlist into the armed forces and police a few years ago, but was knocked back after failing a psychological test.
Instead, he was employed at Moylan Grain Silos, along with Terry Czernowski.
While it was said the pair were friends, others in the town disagreed.
“There was speculation that the victim may have been bullying the perpetrator for some time,” another local, who knew both men, said.
But local electrician Peter Mitchell also knew both Czernowski and Bowles, and he said they were mates.
“[Bowles] was a good kid, easy going, smiling all the time, happy, awesome worker,” he told Radio 6PR.
“He was quiet, he kept to himself, but at the end of the day, he was a good kid. If you had told me this was going to happen, I would say, ‘Nup wrong guy, you’re dreaming’.”
Mitchell said he had no idea what had triggered Bowles to shoot Czernowski dead.
“They were mates, obviously what’s gone on, there’s only two people that are going to know the real truth about it, and they’ve now departed,” he said.
“[I don’t know] whether something’s tripped, whether something’s triggered him.
“My knowledge of [Bowles] was he was always happy at work, we’d seen him there, he’d be the first one up to give you a wave, no different to Terry, they were all good people.”
The town reopened for business on Friday as the community of about 900 tried to get back to normal after the shooting horror.
Police Minister Paul Papalia declined to comment on the relationship between the two deceased men, or what type of guns Bowles used and whether they would have been banned under proposed new gun laws.
“There are very professional investigators looking at this task, and they will do a comprehensive investigation and we’ll hear about things later,” he said.
“It was a very confronting situation, police had to consider the threat to their aircraft and obviously all their personnel, I would just like to commend the police for the professional job they did.”
The incident has shone a spotlight on the Cook government’s gun reform agenda that was first announced in March 2022 but is yet to be introduced to parliament despite being given priority status.
The reforms include mental health checks and close loopholes that allow easy access to gun licences.
Papalia was unable to comment on whether a person failing a psychological test to enter the police force or military would be a red flag under the new laws, with the details of the regulations still being drafted.
Opposition police spokesman Peter Collier said while he could not say gun reforms would have prevented Thursday’s incident, they could prevent the loss of life in the future, and needed to be introduced as soon as possible.
“I can’t see anything, anything on the [parliament] notice paper at the moment that should get given higher priority than this,” he said.
“I’m sick to death of this mob, looking in the rear vision mirror but blaming us; you’ve been in government now guys for almost seven years. Get on with it.”
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