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Unable to speak English, Jane Susin often did not understand what was happening as her son lay in a coma at a Gold Coast hospital.

Yet for 10 days she remained by his side "waiting for the slightest sign".

She had flown in from Brazil after Ivan Patricio Susin was punched outside a Surfers Paradise kebab shop by Ricky Kevin Lefoe in October 2019.

Her 29-year-old son had fallen and suffered head injuries after being struck when a brawl erupted over stolen hot chips.

The family could afford just one plane ticket so Mrs Susin took her first international flight after being notified of the serious assault.

When Mrs Susin arrived, she hoped to "find my son smiling".

"I found my son unconscious, connected to many medical devices ... and in a coma," she said in a victim impact statement.

She kept a bedside vigil but in the end her son was declared brain dead.

Mrs Susin had to watch as hospital staff turned off his life support.

"Can you imagine what that means to a mother?" she said.

Three years after losing a daughter in a car accident, Mrs Susin helped organise a Gold Coast wake for her son that her husband had to watch online.

By then, her daughter Joseane was by her side.

She had organised a flight from Brazil after being told her brother would "probably not survive".

"The night before my flight I received the news that my brother was brain dead - from that moment on I began my journey of pain," she said in a statement.

Mr Susin's parents and Joseane on Tuesday watched via video link as Lefoe, 32, was sentenced to eight years' jail for manslaughter in Brisbane Supreme Court.

Lefoe showed little emotion as the family's statements were read in court.

They touched on dealing with Mr Susin's loss to the embarrassment of being stopped at airport X-rays with his ashes in his mother's bag on the journey home.

"Our son's life was ripped away from us by this man who ... does not even have the decency to own up to his actions - he took everything from us," Mrs Susin said.

The fatal blow was delivered during a brawl that started when Lefoe's intoxicated friend Shaun Simpson grabbed hot chips Mr Susin's group were eating near the kebab shop.

Lefoe left the scene but later returned, making no attempt to help those assisting an unconscious Mr Susin who was on a working holiday, the court heard.

Lefoe also showed no remorse when arrested.

"He tried to hit my mate, I f***ing put him to sleep," Lefoe told police.

At Lefoe's Supreme Court trial in February, a jury was repeatedly shown CCTV footage of the assault and only took a couple of hours to find him guilty.

After watching the footage, Joseane Susin described Lefoe's actions as "cowardice".

"That person has no honour at all," she said.

The court heard Lefoe had a string of convictions in NSW after his brother had been murdered in a 2011 gang attack.

Lefoe also had a 2022 conviction for an assault offence while on bail for the manslaughter charge.

The court heard he had been remanded in custody from December 2020 to November 2021 for further charges which are yet to proceed in NSW.

Chief Justice Helen Bowskill said Mr Simpson had behaved like an aggressive idiot and picked a fight but Lefoe's "split second decision" had tragic circumstances.

"Impulsive violence has no place in our civilised society," she said.

Lefoe will be eligible for parole in 2027.

© AAP 2023

A heavily armed 28-year-old has shot dead three children and three adult staffers at a private Christian school the suspect once attended in Nashville, Tennessee before police killed the assailant.

The motive was not immediately known but the suspect had drawn detailed maps of the school and left behind a "manifesto" and other writings that investigators were examining, Police Chief John Drake told reporters.

The latest in an epidemic of deadly mass gun violence that has come to routinely terrorise even the most cherished of US institutions unfolded on Monday morning at The Covenant School, whose students consist mostly of primary school-age children.

Drake identified the suspect as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, a resident of the Nashville area, and referred to the assailant by female pronouns.

In response to reporters' questions the chief said the suspect "does identify as transgender". Their gender identity was not made clear.

Addressing an early evening news conference, Drake said police were working on a "theory" about what may have precipitated the shooting and would "put that out as soon as we can".

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department began receiving calls at 10.13am of a shooter at the school, and arriving officers reported hearing gunfire coming from the building's second floor, police spokesman Don Aaron told reporters.

Two officers from a five-member team shot the assailant in a lobby area, and she was pronounced dead by 10.27am.

"The police department response was swift," Aaron said.

Drake said the 28-year-old suspect had previously been a student at the school and had gained entry by firing through one of the doors.

Three students were pronounced dead after arriving at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt with gunshot wounds, hospital spokesman John Howser said in a statement. Three adult staff members were killed by the shooter, police said.

The victims were later identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, along with staffers Mike Hill, 61, a school custodian, Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher, and Katherine Koonce, 60, listed on the Covenant website as "head of school".

Besides the deceased, no one else was shot, Aaron said.

Students' parents were told to gather at the nearby Woodmont Baptist Church to be reunited with their children. Parents trickled out of the building with their youngsters in tow. One woman was visibly distraught as she was escorted alone out of the church to a waiting squad car by police officers who said they were headed to Vanderbilt.

Reacting in Washington to the shooting, US President Joe Biden urged Congress again to pass tougher gun reform legislation and ban assault-style weapons.

"It's sick," Biden said during an event at the White House.

"We have to do more to stop gun violence. It's ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation."

At the state level, Tennessee in 2021 did away with its permit requirement for carrying a concealed handgun and now allows anyone 21 and older to carry a firearm - either openly or concealed, without a permit - as long as they are legally allowed to purchase the weapon.

Possessing a handgun is outlawed in Tennessee for anybody who has been convicted of a felony offence involving violence or drugs.

The Covenant School, founded in 2001, is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in the Green Hills neighbourhood of Nashville with about 200 students, according to the school's website. The school serves preschool through sixth graders and held an active shooter training program in 2022, WTVF-TV reported.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper expressed sympathy for the victims and wrote on social media that his city "joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting."

There have been 89 school shootings - defined as anytime a gun is discharged on school property - in the US so far in 2023, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.

There were 303 such incidents last year, the highest of any year in the database, which goes back to 1970.

© RAW 2023

As NSW Premier-elect Chris Minns' interim government prepares to be sworn in, the party's hopes for a majority government are waning as counting continues in a series of nail-biter electorates.

Labor needs 47 seats to have a lower house majority but was stuck on 45 on Monday afternoon as the coalition pushed ahead in eight of the seats still in doubt.

Liberal candidates leapfrogged Labor's early leads in Goulburn, Terrigal, Winston Hills, Holsworthy and Miranda on Monday.

Labor's lead in Kiama is also slipping away with the seat likely to go to independent Gareth Ward on Tuesday, according to ABC election analyst Antony Green.

"All the inside information I have says that Gareth Ward will win Kiama so Labor can't reach a majority," he tweeted.

Mr Ward, a former Liberal minister, was dumped from the party and suspended from parliament last year after being charged with historic sexual and indecent assault.

As counting continues in the tightly-contested race, Mr Ward faced Nowra District Court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage boy in 2013 and raping a man in 2015.

Greens MP Jenny Leong told reporters the people of Kiama had "absolutely" got it wrong in voting for Mr Ward.

"The fact is that the people of Kiama spoke and they have shown support for their existing member," Ms Leong told reporters.

Another potential seat was shaved from Labor's column late on Monday, as the party's candidate for Balmain Philippa Scott conceded to new Greens MP Kobi Shetty.

The win was historic for the Greens, who had never before retained a seat after an incumbent member retired, Ms Shetty said.

Labor remains slightly ahead as counting continues in Ryde.

Mr Minns will be sworn in as Labor's first premier in 12 years, alongside several women making up part of his cabinet, including Prue Car as deputy premier and education minister, Jo Haylen as transport minister and Penny Sharpe as environment minister.

Treasurer-elect Daniel Mookhey said the government was keen to fully understand matters, including the northern NSW flood recovery and transport issues that have caused repeated delays on the state's train network.

"Equally, we are looking forward to getting the briefing on Menindee - the fish kills is a big part of our immediate priority," Mr Mookhey said on Monday.

The premier-elect spent two hours in a briefing with former premier Dominic Perrottet on Monday as the pair continue their friendly relationship.

Later, Mr Minns made a midnight visit to Sydney's Westmead Hospital, where he met with nurses and paramedics working the overnight shift.

The premier-elect also visited the children's ward, leaving notes for children to give to their teachers, saying they did not have to do their homework because they were sick.

Work on Labor's much-touted promise to institute a road toll cap could begin as soon as a roads minister is appointed.

After Mr Perrottet's resignation as Liberal leader, former planning minister Anthony Roberts, former attorney-general Mark Speakman, and former trade minister Alister Henskens have emerged as leading contenders for the vacancy.

It comes after moderates Matt Kean and James Griffin bowed out of the race.

The incoming government has also been given a political boost with a trio of independents - Alex Greenwich, Greg Piper and Joe McGirr - who sit on the cross bench promising confidence and supply, if the party is not able to form a majority.

The upper house's 21 of 42 seats were up for election.

Early counts show Labor will win eight seats, the coalition six, the Greens two, and one seat for One Nation.

Remaining votes and preference flows will decide the last four seats.

© AAP 2023