After the alarm was raised gardeners immediately rushed to the scene. They found one man badly injured, surrounded by horrified children. Some distance away, a man and a woman were lying with their faces in the grass apparently dead. Two other women were then found slightly further on. One had been knitting when she was attacked and she was found dead still clutching her work.

    An eyewitness, Mr Richard Badger, saw the man fire his last shot and then run away behind some bushes.

    The man was approximately 70 yards from Mr Badger, and he could not describe him with any detail. The weapon used was either a shotgun or a service rifle. A thorough search was made of the gardens, particularly the area near Anderson Street and Domain Road, but no trace of the man was found. Later, a young man said he had seen the gunman jump the fence into Domain Road. Apparently he was wearing a blue suit and a dark hat, and was not carrying a gun. It is thought the gun may have been thrown into the nearby reservoir.