A father shot his teenage son dead and then killed himself in a suspected murder-suicide, police believe.
The bodies of registered gun owner Wayne Smith, 58, and his son Noah, 15, were found with bullet wounds at their family home in Yamba, on NSW’s north coast, on Thursday afternoon.
A relative is believed to have called NSW Police to the family home in the popular tourist town about 1.10pm after making the grisly discovery.
As the small tight-knit community come to terms with the tragedy, detectives investigating the circumstances of their deaths have requested Mr Smith’s licensing history from the NSW Firearms Registry.
Smith had worked for the local Port Authority for 40 years. His son was a junior footballer for the Yamba Buccaneers Rugby Club.
Wayne Smith, 58, and his son Noah, 15, were found dead at their Yamba home on Thursday
The family’s property on Kookaburra Court, Yamba, northern NSW is now a crime scene
Smith comes from a long line of port workers, with his family living and working at the pilot station for three generations.
Smith has previously said he always wanted to work at the port and follow in his father’s footsteps.
‘I’ve got salt in the veins, mate – I never thought of doing anything different, I’ve been working at the port for 27 years,’ he told the Clarence Valley News in 2013.
‘Dad worked the ports for 28 years. From memory, he started at Ballina [once the second busiest port on the NSW coast] and transferred from there, when it closed, to here.
‘I grew up in the pilot’s cottage up on the hill.
‘I crossed the bar [at Ballina] when I was six months old, my son crossed the bar [at Yamba] when he was six weeks old – that’s tradition.
Smith said, due to the small nature of Yamba’s port, he – like the other workers – had a range of skills and performed jobs normally completed by specialists in larger ports – and that he had been on ‘plenty of rescues’.
‘Anything from using a computer to do admin, everything from purchasing to boat maintenance, repairs, buoy work, navigation aids, wharf maintenance, the whole lot,’ he said.
Smith was also an avid fisherman, having won the Yamba Lions Family Fishing Festival as part of team in 2016.
Noah was a keen footballer and cyclist – a hobby he shared with his mother
Smith and his son pose with one of their fishing trip catches in 2017
It was a hobby he seemed to share with his son – with photos posted on social media showing the pair beaming with delight while holding up a massive metre-long fish on their front yard after a boating trip.
Like his father, Noah had also won awards for fishing – scoring the encouragement award in Tim the Bream competition in 2017.
He was also successful on the sporting field, with his under 12s rugby team winning their local grand final in September 2019.
Aside from football, Noah was also a keen cyclist – a sport he enjoyed with his mother.
Several pictures posted online show the boy and his mother dressed in lycra alongside their bikes during riding outings together.
The Yamba Buccaneers Rugby Club told Daily Mail Australia it was ‘devastated’ by the tragic passing of Noah and ‘our condolences are with his family, friends and former team mates at this difficult time’.
‘Noah found his sporting place in rugby union and was a valuable member of our 2019 premiership winning Under 12s team,’ the club said in a statement.
‘A reserved, quiet child, Noah was well-respected by others players and his coaches, and was renowned for always ‘having a crack’ and doing what he could for the team.
‘The club has offered support to those affected and will pay tribute to Noah at our junior games tonight and Seniors’ game on Saturday.
Noah is pictured alongside his mother in 2018
Forensic teams began to examine the northern NSW property on Thursday evening after an apparent murder-suicide
Coffs-Clarence Police District Superintendent Shane Cribb said the double fatality had rocked the small tight-knit community.
‘I always find it has more effect because everyone knows everyone,’ he told reporters on Friday.
‘I’ve got police that know the family, I’ve got police officers’ children that actually went to the same school. When you talk about the effect this has as the whole, it effects a lot more people than we think.’
Superintendent Cribb said his priorities were to make sure the matter was thoroughly investigated and those impacted by the tragedy were well supported.
Lisa Flynn, who lives on the same street, said the community has been left shocked by the incident.
‘My partner came home at about 3pm and there were cops everywhere,’ Ms Flynn said.
‘No one had heard anything – no gunshot noises, nothing.
‘You just wouldn’t expect it in this area; there are a lot of retirement-aged people and single mothers here.’
She said she often saw the pair outside working on Smith’s boat together.
‘It’s just surreal it could happen so close to us,’ she said.
The crime scene at the home on Friday morning
‘They had a good relationship with each other.
‘I rarely saw the boy go to school, but I’d see them working on the dad’s boat a lot.
While the investigation is ongoing, police do not believe anybody else was involved in the shooting.
Ms Flynn said although the neighbourhood is horrified by the deaths, they feel safer knowing police believe it was an isolated incident.
When contacted on Friday, Port Authority of NSW said: ‘This is a NSW Police matter and is currently under investigation.’
The corporation did not respond to questions over whether support measures were being offered to staff.
A crime scene was established at the home, which will be forensically examined by specialist teams.
A full report will be prepared for the coroner.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact police.
For confidential crisis support contact Lifeline on 13 11 14