A young girl is struggling to cope in the shocking aftermath of her mother’s shooting death in a quiet suburban street, according to a family friend.
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 south east Queensland on Wednesday afternoon.
Ms Frahm’s daughter and a friend, aged just 11 and 12, ran from the car and got the attention of James Trevor McGill, 66, who was in the street visiting his elderly mother but 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 truamatised daughter.
‘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.’
Ms Mulligan said Ms Frahm was her ‘best friend’.
‘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 said when Ms Frahm failed to respond to texts on the day of the shooting she feared the worse.
The Thai boxing gym also paid tribute to Ms Frahm on Facebook.
‘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 and paid tribute to Ms Frahm.
‘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’.
Ms Frahm moved to Mackay several years ago from her hometown, of 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 Framh 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 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 at 5.20pm as officers searched the area for the alleged gunman.
Cole was arrested about 7.45pm outside a service station on the Bruce Highway near Hilton Street, about 2km away.
It is understood 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 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 morning via watch-house video link, charged with murder and attempted murder.
He was remanded in custody to appear back before the court at a later date.
Daily understands the South Mackay property where Cole was living is owned by his mother, however, it is unclear whether she was also residing at the premises.
Cole appeared in Mackay Magistrates Court on Thursday morning via watch-house video link, charged with murder and attempted murder.
He was remanded in custody to appear back before the court at a later date.