source : the age
Five days after a woman was shot in the back through a car passenger seat in the Gold Coast, police have renewed calls for public assistance as the circumstances surrounding the attack remained unclear.
Detective Inspector Mark Mooney said the 33-year-old woman was in a “stable but serious” condition on Monday, and medical staff at the Gold Coast University Hospital were preparing to bring her out of sedation on Monday.
“[This] is a really critical stage for her, there’s obviously [a possibility] that she could go into shock and still pass away from her injuries. Her injuries are significant, and they’ll be life-altering,” he said.
Detective Inspector Mark Mooney said medical staff were preparing to pull the 33-year-old from sedation on Monday, after she was shot in the back last Wednesday. Credit: Brisbane Times
Mooney said police had yet to speak to multiple individuals of interest and had yet to establish the exact circumstances leading to the woman being shot on Wednesday last week.
“We have 10 to 15 witness statements, who all provide varying versions of what’s actually occurred,” he said.
Police initially responded to a call about midday on January 8 reporting shots fired in the Gold Coast suburb of Tallebudgera.
They arrived to find the 33-year-old suffering a life-threatening gunshot wound to the centre of her back.
Police said last week she had been sitting in the passenger seat of a car parked outside a Trees Road home, and had been shot through the car seat. Officers suspected the gunshot came from inside the vehicle.
The woman has reportedly arrived with a group of people to help the resident move out of the address, and a number of people were present throughout the day collecting free items advertised on Facebook Marketplace.
Mooney said on Monday that detectives had established the woman’s attacked was known to her, but ruled out a domestic violence relationship.
“We believe they travelled to the location together with the victim’s partner, however, we don’t believe there’s too much of a background there,” Mooney said.
“We believe they may have only met that day.”
He added it was not impossible that the person had left the state.
“We don’t know where they are at the moment, all our resources that we’ve been using haven’t provided us any information at all,” he said.
Mooney said police still had “maybe five to 10 people” who were at the address on Wednesday that had yet to be interviewed.
Police also intended to release footage of a white Hino tow truck that “left the scene immediately after the shooting occurred”, which they said could be involved.
“We understand it drove around the Tallebudgera area for maybe an hour or two, before returning back into the Nerang area, so we’re looking for anyone who may have dash cam, or may have witnessed the vehicle to come forward and provide that for us,” Mooney said.
Crime Stoppers can be contacted online here or by phoning 1800 333 000.
