Kenneth John Giles: Who is the Mullewa gunman? Locals reveal concerns over alleged shooter’s state of mind

A Mullewa farmhand who allegedly shot his partner in the hand before fleeing police has been likened to a “dingo” due to his extensive bush knowledge amid fears he has fled into WA’s outback with a gun. The widespread hunt for Kenneth John Giles, 58, is continuing on Thursday afternoon after police were called to a property on Urawa Road, north of the Mullewa townsite, about 5.30pm on Wednesday. Police believe a gun was fired at the residence — about 100km east of Geraldton and 450km north of Perth — before Mr Giles fled the scene. A woman aged in her 40s was rushed to hospital with a gunshot, believed to be to her hand. The West Australian can reveal Mr Giles is a local farmhand, who has lived in the Mullewa area from a young age and worked on farms out of town in recent years. One local, who wished to remain anonymous, told The West they feared Mr Giles “could be anywhere”. “He ain’t going to want to be caught and go to jail for the rest of his life,” they said. “He knows the bush. . . he’s like a dingo.” The local expressed concern about Mr Giles’ state of mind, describing him as a “firecracker”, but remained hopeful he had “calmed down” overnight. Another local described Mr Giles as a “hardworking bushy”, who had “always done rural work”. Mullewa local Tavis Mourish said he had known Mr Giles “all his life” and had previously been hunting on his property. “I’ve known him him all my life I’ve been out here - I did a little bit of sheep handling work with him,” he said. “We’ve gone hunting on his property a few times. He’s a well known bloke”. “He does his work, fencing ... (it’s) hard work, and that’s all pretty much what he does. “He has his little hobbies out there, to get a bit of meat every now and then and what not, you know, to supply himself with. “I haven’t hadn’t heard from him in a while, (but I had seen him) up and down in the town and at the pub for a few beers,” he said. They added that Mr Giles was known to have done fencing and station hand work on rural properties. The West Australian has been told Mr Giles had access to firearms, particularly rifles. Police have not confirmed whether Mr Giles was known to police or whether he was licensed to possess firearms. Mr Giles is believed to have lived on a rural property on Urawa Road but it is unclear whether the shooting occurred at the same address. It is believed Mr Giles fled the scene of the shooting in his white Nissan Patrol Utility, with the WA registration 1BIY336. Multiple police resources have been deployed to the area, including the tactical response group and police airwing. Despite their efforts, Mr Giles had not been located as of Thursday afternoon. A photo of the vehicle shared by WA Police shows the ute with a black bull bar and red dirt scattered on the exterior.