The family of Victorian twins who were shot in the head at a Colorado shooting range this week are understood to still not know which one has died and which one has survived, with a worker at the range calling it a double suicide attempt.
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Local police last night said they had ruled out homicide but were keeping an open mind into the shooting of the sisters, 29, who were in the US on cultural-exchange visas.
Authorities refused to identity the pair yesterday but the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed they were Victorian and said it was in contact with their family.
The family is now flying to the US to identify the twins.
The pair arrived at the Family Shooting Centre in Cherry Creek State Park, south of Denver, about 1.30pm on Monday and hired two small-calibre pistols, which they are understood to have used on previous visits to the outdoor range.
They shot targets in their own stall and chatted between themselves for about 90 minutes before they fell to the ground simultaneously, with video footage capturing their collapse but not the shooting itself.
One died instantly while the other was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was in a critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery but had not been interviewed by police.
Captain Louie Perea, from the County Sheriff's Department, told the Denver Post because the women looked similar authorities were yet to identify which twin was alive.
The women's visas reportedly show one of the women had been in the US since September 19 while the other arrived on August 17. One of the women was due to fly out on Tuesday.
One of the centre's range officers, Mitch Hamilton, said it was impossible to tell from the video if the women shot themselves or each other.
But he said the wounds were not caused by other shooters or a ricocheted bullet.
''[The wounds] were self-inflicted. That's what it appears, that's as far we can tell,'' he said.
''The video tape shows them simultaneously falling to the ground.''
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