Friends and family have remembered Devonport shooting victim Chris Walters as a "kind soul", as Tasmania Police name the man who killed him in a tragic murder-suicide triple-shooting in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Police were called to the address on William Street in Devonport about 1am after a man aged in his 30s entered the home and shot a man and woman.
The woman's 10-year-old son and 12-month-old baby were home at the time, but were not physically injured.
Tasmania Police have named 32-year-old Chris Walters as the man shot by 35-year-old Paul Carey.
Carey then shot a 38-year-old woman before turning the gun on himself.
Shotgun used in killings
Police asked for the public's help to "establish the source" of the Winchester shotgun used by Carey and said he had obtained it "in the past three months".
"The firearm was not registered, and the offender did not have a firearms licence," police said in a statement on Sunday.
"We would like to hear from anyone who has information about how the offender acquired the firearm," Detective Inspector Kim Steven said.
Anyone who may have helped Carey get his hands on the weapon is being urged to contact detectives, without fear of prosecution.
"It is important we establish the sequence of events which led up to the incident," Inspector Steven said.
"Illegal firearms pose a significant risk to the community, as we have seen with the tragic events of yesterday. These events will have a lifelong impact on the families involved."
Tasmania has a permanent firearms amnesty in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, which means unregistered, unwanted or illegal firearms and ammunition can be surrendered to police or a firearms dealer without prosecution.
"I encourage anyone who has, or has knowledge of, illegal firearms, to hand them in," Inspector Steven said.
'Indications of jealousy' as motive, police say
Police said the 38-year-old woman wounded by Carey remained in the Launceston General Hospital in a stable condition.
Inspector Steven said police were looking at the motives behind the crime.
'Like a big teddy bear'
Mark Walters told the ABC his family treated their cousin Chris as if he was a brother.
"He was great, do anything for anyone, especially his family," he said.
Mark said Chris had been recently living in Albury, New South Wales and had returned to Tasmania a few weeks ago — leaving quarantine a little over a week ago.
He said his cousin had just recently become a father to a girl born a couple of weeks ago.
"He was over the moon … I've got six kids of my own and Chris was great with my kids.
Others remembered Mr Walters as a "kind soul" who would help others.
"Mate you are the first person to help a bloke out when needed, and to hear that you have been taken way too early … my deepest condolences to all of the Walters family, RESPECT brother," one wrote.
Another poster said the news was "heart breaking" to wake up to.
"RIP chief!!! U will forever have a place in my heart," they wrote.
"I didn't know that I would wake up today only to have my heart broken," another wrote.
"One of the kindest most beautiful souls to ever walk this earth.
Children at scene likely 'feeling very vulnerable'
CEO of the Australian Psychological Society Zena Burgess said she was pleased that the 10-year-old who witnessed the incident had already received psychological support.
"They are going to need trauma debriefing and ongoing therapy for quite some time to find a way to understand the issues and deal with the issues and move beyond it," she said.
"There is research around trauma and trauma care that shows people can recover [from extreme forms of domestic violence] but it is really important that they get high-quality care very early on straight after the incident to begin that process.
"I understand [they're] now with their grandmother … but given their primary care giver, their mother, is also in hospital, they will be feeling very vulnerable and fearful."
Dr Burgess believes the focus in the coming weeks will be on helping the 10-year-old feel secure.
"There will be fears that the person or the perpetrator, even though we know the person has killed themselves, but that there will be someone that would harm the child," she said.
"So fear of harm, but also the difficulty in reconnecting with their peers, wondering if people will ask them about it and what to say and how to make sense of it.
Given the early intervention and psychological support offered to the child, Dr Burgess believes he will make a full recovery.
"I am very optimistic. With the right care, people do recover."
