Police have charged a 59-year-old man with the murders of three people and the attempted murder of a fourth over a shooting at a cattle property in North Queensland.
Seventy-one-year-old Mervyn Schwarz, 59-year-old Maree Schwarz and 35-year-old Graham Tighe were all found dead near their rural property at Bogie near Collinsville on Thursday morning.
A fourth person, Ross Tighe, left the scene in a vehicle after sustaining a gunshot wound to his abdomen. He was found about 40 kilometres from the scene.
Graham and Ross Tighe are the sons of Ms Schwarz.
Ross Tighe was airlifted to Mackay Base Hospital and on Friday remained in a stable condition after undergoing surgery.
Police confirmed all of the victims were neighbours of the man charged with their alleged murders.
Property records showed the family had purchased the property last year for $10 million.
Mackay Acting Superintendent Tom Armitt said the nearest police station about 90 minutes away from the property and that it took several hours for police to establish the primary crime scene.
Five people were initially taken in for questioning after police made an emergency declaration for an area surrounding the crime scene.
Four of those people have been released, two of whom were contractors who happened to be on the property at the time.
Family remembers 'down-to-earth people'
Ms Schwarz's brother-in-law Greg Austen, a councillor on the Isaac Regional Council, said she and her husband were well known and loved in the area.
"They were terrific, down-to-earth, typical country people," he said.
"They were typical 'pumpkin scones and a few beers on a Friday' people.
"We're just devastated. We didn't believe it at first … we didn't realise it was that tragic."
Mr Austen said his children, along with Graham and Ross Tighe, would regularly muster together.
"They were very close to them," he said.
"My family are … in shock. We'll band together and hold together."
He said family members were on their way to Ross Tighe's bedside.
The man will appear in the Proserpine Magistrates Court on Monday.
