POLICE are investigating the death of a woman found in a “pretty horrific” scene inside a home in Kearsley, New South Wales.
Emergency services were called to the property near Cessnock on Friday night following reports of a domestic violence situation.
There, they discovered Rhukaya Lake dead from what appeared to be a gunshot wound.
At the time of the tragedy, three children were present in the house.
Superintendent Steve Laksa described the scene as traumatic for everyone involved, especially the children who were caught up in the horror.
“It was a traumatic incident, as you can imagine, pretty horrible for the family members, everyone involved: their three young children, or two adult children, one young child,” Laksa said.
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One of the children, in a desperate attempt to escape the violence, fled the house and ran for help.
He traveled about 300 or 400 meters to a neighbor’s house.
The boy was reportedly screaming hysterically for help.
One witness, Cecil Campbell, described the scene as “very shocking”.
“This has never happened before,” Campbell added.
It was the neighbors who called the police after learning what happened from the child.
The girl told officers that her mother had “blood dripping from her head.”
Police quickly identified Christopher James McLoughney, 37, as a person of interest.
She has reportedly been in a relationship with the deceased since June.
Police issued a warning that McLoughney was believed to be in the Cessnock, Lower Hunter or Newcastle areas.
Believing he might be armed, authorities urged the community to be cautious and alert them if they saw him.
McLoughney was then arrested in Bellbird, a small town about nine miles from the crime scene.
He was driving a black Hyundai Tucson when police stopped him.
He allegedly had a sawed-off shotgun and ammunition in his possession.
These items have since been taken for forensic analysis.
This incident marks the latest in a series of violent attacks in New South Wales.
Earlier this month, a man was brutally murdered in a chainsaw attack in Bega.
It is believed this incident may have been a drug-related confrontation.
In 2022, Emma Lovell, originally from Ipswich, was stabbed to death on Boxing Day while fighting off two invaders of her home in North Lakes, Queensland.
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The 41-year-old woman was stabbed through the heart.
The current violence has shocked local communities and highlighted growing concerns about national and public security in the region.
