A grieving young girl is having difficulty grappling the shocking aftermath of witnessing her mother being allegedly gunned down in their driveway in a quiet suburban street.
Natalie Jane Frahm, 34, was allegedly shot in the the head and chest by her neighbour Ryan Geoffrey Cole, 31, as she pulled up in her car outside her house on Robb Place, South Mackay in central Queensland on Wednesday afternoon.
Ms Frahm’s daughter and a friend, aged 11 and 12, bravely ran from the car and attracted the attention of James Trevor McGill, 66, who was in the street visiting his elderly mother. He raced over to help and was allegedly also shot in the chest.
Ms Frahm died at the scene while Mr McGill was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Tiffany Mulligan, who knew Ms Frahm from the Mang-gon Thai Boxing gym they attended together, said she has been in contact with her friend’s traumatised daughter.
Natalie Jane Frahm, 34, was allegedly fatally shot in the the head and chest by her Mackay neighbour Ryan Geoffrey Cole
Ms Frahm helped run a local business in Mackay and was ‘much-loved’ in the community
‘I called her earlier, and you know, she understandably, like, she just saw that happen to her mother, so her emotions are not really processing right now,’ Ms Mulligan told the Courier Mail.
‘She didn’t really have any emotions, but, like, it’ll come, you know. I’ve been talking to them all day and they’re pretty devastated, that was literally our family.’
She described Ms Frahm as her ‘best friend’, who worked from home doing administration for her brother’s business.
‘We’d do everything together, she’d braid my hair for fights, she was one of my biggest supporters,’ Ms Mulligan said.
‘I’m just devastated … We would go to town and party and do different stuff, she was such a fun person … and a smile from her would just light up any room.’
She feared the worst after Ms Frahm failed to respond to her texts on the afternoon of the shooting.
The Thai boxing gym the pair attended paid tribute to Ms Frahm on Facebook on Thursday.
‘Natalie always had the most infectious smile, always helping wherever she could and making close friends,’ the post said.
Other gym members expressed their shock as they also paid tribute.
‘Well loved, greatly respected and will be remembered in the highest regards,’ one person wrote.
‘A strong woman, loving mother fiercely proud of her children … Always with a smile.’
Another wrote that ‘Nat was ‘beloved in the community and a wonderful mother, wife, and sparring partner. ️ Hope the family and kids are safe’.
Police are pictured processing the scene on Robb Place in South Mackay, on Wednesday after the alleged double shooting
Ryan Geoffrey Cole allegedly went on a shooting rampage on Wednesday – his 31st birthday
The Queensland Homicide Victims Support Group travelled to Mackay on Thursday to help provide support to Ms Frahm’s shattered family.
Daily Mail Australia revealed earlier that Ms Frahm moved to Mackay several years ago from her hometown Mount Isa, located 1,230 km west in outback Queensland.
Her family are well known within the small town, where they run local businesses.
In 2015, Ms Frahm made local headlines after winning a regional prize – the EMO Trans Northern Outback Business Awards – for her beauty spa, Bellovista Spa & Skin Clinic.
In her last post on Instagram last Monday, Ms Frahm shared a video of her skateboarding down a footpath alongside the caption: ‘Skating into the week like a boss.’
A heartbroken friend paid tribute to the mother online as a ‘beautiful angel’.
The tragedy has rocked the quiet coastal suburb, which thrusted into a massive emergency lockdown amid the alleged shootings.
Police will allege Cole, who turned 31 on the day, opened fire on Ms Frahm about 4.30pm while she sat in her car with two teenage girls – her daughter and her daughter’s friend – before fleeing the scene in a Mitsubishi Triton.
Police were called and an exclusion zone was put in place as officers searched the area for the alleged gunman.
Natalie Frahm’s last Instagram post showed her skating down a footpath last week
Cole was arrested about 7.45pm outside a service station on the Bruce Highway near Hilton Street, about 2km away.
It’s understood that Cole and Ms Frahm did not know each other, but resided on the same street.
A neighbour said she was shocked by the chain of events, saying she frequently saw Mr Cole in the street.
‘He seemed nice,’ she said.
‘He has been living there for a while. He seemed like a good style of a man. He would always drive past and smile. I’d see him working on his boat or with his carpenter’s trolley.
‘[What allegedly happened] is all very sad.’
Cole appeared in Mackay Magistrates Court on Thursday via watch-house video link, charged with murder and attempted murder.
He was remanded in custody to reappear in court at a later date.
