Shooting Puzzle As Man Found Wounded On Road

The Age

Friday January 9, 2009

Andra Jackson

MYSTERY surrounds a shooting in which a man was left lying wounded by the side of the road in Hallam early yesterday.

Two motorists found the man, 32, from Keysborough, by his car near the intersection of the Princes Highway and the South Gippsland Highway about 4.30am.

Detective Sergeant Andrew Stamper from the armed crime taskforce said the man told the motorists he had been shot in the stomach, and they called an ambulance.

Paramedics treated the man before taking him to The Alfred hospital. Late yesterday he was in a critical but stable condition.

Sergeant Stamper said the motorists who stopped to help probably saved the man's life. "It is not known what prompted the shooting," he said.

The victim was lying on the driver's side of a silver Holden Commodore station wagon on the Princes Highway.

Sergeant Stamper said there was no apparent damage to the car to suggest a drive-by attack. It was possible the man had been shot elsewhere and was driving himself to hospital when he collapsed.

A man, 33, from Rowville was helping police with their investigations late yesterday.

Police were searching along the Princes Highway for evidence.

Several people have contacted police since the man was found.

Police are appealing to anyone who saw the shooting or saw the man by the road to contact them.

Police would not say whether the shooting was linked to a criminal syndicate involved in shootings and intimidating witnesses.

The syndicate has been under investigation by a taskforce codenamed Lased, which has linked it to drug trafficking, abductions, shootings, intimidation of witnesses, bribery and attempted murder. Gang members reportedly threatened a woman, then smashed every window in her house as a warning to remain silent.

The gang - controlled by one crime family - has been linked to attacks in Fawkner, Campbellfield, Thomastown, Broadmeadows, Gladstone Park, Glenroy, Mill Park and Coolaroo in the past two years.

Anyone with information on yesterday's shooting should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800333 000.

© 2009 The Age

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