Sydney dad's shooting of teen children 'planned': police

A father who fatally shot his two children in Sydney has been found dead at another location.

NSW Police and emergency services attend the scene of a shooting at West Pennant Hills in Sydney's northwest, Friday, 6 July, 2018.

NSW Police and emergency services attend the scene of a shooting at West Pennant Hills in Sydney's northwest, Friday, 6 July, 2018. Source: Getty

A 68-year-old man who shot dead his two teenage children in Sydney yesterday has been found dead with two guns nearby, police said.

Police confirmed the gunman was the father of the 15-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl who were killed in a "planned attack" in their bedrooms at a West Pennant Hills home on Thursday.

Police said the man - who did not live with the children and their mother - had fled after the shooting, sparking a massive manhunt. The man’s body was found at a home in neighbouring Normanhurst on Friday.
NSW Police and emergency services attend the scene of a shooting at West Pennant Hills in Sydney's northwest.
NSW Police and emergency services attend the scene of a shooting at West Pennant Hills in Sydney's northwest. Source: AAP
Acting Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden said it was a “horrific experience of losing two children at the hand of another”. He said the children’s mother is experiencing severe shock.

“I can’t even imagine the stress and heartache that she is going through,” he said at a press conference on Friday.

McFadden said two handguns were recovered by police at the Normanhurst home, adding they were the same weapons used at the West Pennant Hills home.

He said the guns were registered in the man’s name and he obtained them legally this year.

He said police were aware of the man but he had no extensive criminal history and there were no AVOs in place regarding the family.

NSW Ambulance Inspector Kevin Sweeney on Thursday said the murder scene was "extremely distressing".

"When ambulance paramedics arrived ... we were confronted with an extremely distressing and stressful situation," he said.

"Two teenagers were unfortunately deceased in their bedroom and unfortunately at that time there was nothing we could do to help them."

Their mother, 36, arrived shortly after police and was treated by paramedics for severe shock.

"You've got a family that is going to struggle to come to terms with it and emergency responders will struggle to come to terms with what they have seen," McFadden said on Friday.

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By Helen Chen

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