Devastated father speaks out after family mass shooting

It is being described as one of Australia’s worst tragedies in more than 20 years.

News.com.au reported that the father of the four children killed in the Margaret River family shooting massacre has spoken about the tragedy.

Four children, Taye, 13, Rylan, 12, Arye, 10, and Kadyn Cockman, eight, were found dead alongside their mother, Katrina, and their grandparents, Peter Miles and Cynda.

Authorities found them at the Miles’ Osmington Property, northeast of Margaret River in Western Australia on May 11, 2018.

The father of the deceased children, Aaron Cockman, has spoken up about the incident and said that he still loves the man believed to be responsible for their deaths – their grandfather, Peter Miles.

“I still love who Peter was. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have Katrina, I wouldn’t have her kids. So, it’s not some random guy off the street who’s taken them away from me.”

Aaron Cockman, News.com.au, May 14, 2018.

Speaking for the first time since the massacre, he said that if the tragedy had to happen, there was no other person than his Peter Miles.

He was estranged from Katrina and her parents, Peter and Cynda, had cut him off from his children, Cockman said. He said he was angry at them, but also realized that it served no purpose.

The father said that he was “filled with tremendous sadness” over the loss of his children. However, he takes refuge in the fact that they at least “died peacefully in their beds.”

Cockman believes that Peter did not make an impulsive decision to kill his family and that he had “thought this through,” possibly thought it for a long time.

The police officers had informed him that all the children died peacefully in their beds. Cockman added that the grandfather “did a good job.”

He revealed that Peter was a great person and his best friend before this incident. However, he said “there are some people you just don’t want to get on the wrong side of. That’s Peter and Cynda.”

Authorities confirmed that they found three guns at the property. Reports suggested that Peter Mills, 61, had called police around 5.15 a.m., however, Commissioner Dawson did not confirm these reports.

Within hours of the incident coming to light, police said they were not looking for anyone else and had termed it murder-suicide with Peter Mills being the prime suspect.

The four children, a girl and three boys, are believed to have had autism and were students at Margaret River Primary School.

A forensic investigation at the property is in progress.