This article contains distressing content
The daughter of Mark Bombara, who killed a Western Australian mother and daughter and then himself, said she spoke with police on three occasions to convey serious concerns that her father would use his 11 guns against them.
Ariel Bombara said she told police there was a “real and imminent threat” to both her and her mother’s lives but felt she was “repeatedly ignored” and “repeatedly failed” by authorities in Perth.
She said police denied her and her mother a temporary protective order after escaping from her father and disregarded warnings regarding his firearms and violent nature.
Mark Bombara killed Jennifer Petelczyc, 59, and her daughter, 18-year-old Gretl, at their Floreat home on Friday. Source: Supplied / TikTok
Police allege Mark Bombara fatally shot his former wife’s best friend Jenny Petelczyc and her daughter Gretl Petelczyc while searching for Ariel Bombara and her mother, and then shot himself.
“What my father did was an act of domestic violence,” Ariel said in a statement.
“My mother and I made clear that lives were at risk, and we were repeatedly ignored. Repeatedly failed.
“Those failures have cost the lives of two incredible women,” she said.
WA police commissioner Col Blanch told reporters on Tuesday that the WA police internal investigations unit would investigate Ariel’s claims.
Blanch said when Ariel and her mother asked police for a temporary protective order, “The circumstances would not have met the threshold of a 72-hour police order.”
Ariel said her father should always be considered accountable for his actions.
“They were his and his alone; however, there are authorities who should have helped us to stop him, and they failed.”
Ariel said she was “truly, deeply sorry to Liesl Petelczyc for the losses of her beautiful mother, Jenny, and sister, Gretl; losses she has suffered at the hands of my father’s violence”.
Ariel said she and her mother fled the family home on 28 March in fear of their lives.
She said she spoke with police on three separate occasions between 30 March and 2 April, raising her concerns about a Glock handgun that hadn’t been accounted for.
“My understanding is this ultimately would be one of the weapons my father used [to] take the lives of two innocent women,” she said in the statement.
Ariel said she and her mother were given a police escort to their home on 2 April to collect their belongings and, on this occasion, she warned police for a third time about her father’s guns.
Blanch would not comment further on Ariel’s claims police were told to wear bulletproof vests during the escort but the women were not.
Ariel said: “We were ignored by five different male officers across three occasions of reporting.”
“By that point we felt completely helpless and I had to focus on getting mum to safety. I did everything I could to protect my mother, and when my father couldn’t find us he murdered her best friend and her best friend’s daughter.”
Western Australian Premier Roger Cook has called a “senseless” and “sickening” crime that was “motivated by family and domestic violence”.
However, Western Australian Police said on Saturday afternoon that police were matter due to Bombara and the Petelczycs being unrelated.
The force has been contacted for comment and is expected to address the letter on Tuesday afternoon.
If you or someone you know is impacted by family and domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, or visit . In an emergency, call 000.
, operated by No to Violence, can be contacted on 1300 766 491.
Readers seeking crisis support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged up to 25). More information and support with mental health is available at and on 1300 22 4636.
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