UPDATE: A brave nurse who ran into her neighbour’s home in Epping after hearing gunshots says she found a man lying in “a pool of blood”.
Debbie Tuckerman called the police just after 11pm on Saturday to a house in Plowman Court, Epping, after hearing “five or six” gunshots go off.
When police arrived, they discovered the body of a man, who they believe suffered a single gunshot wound.
They also found a second man with minor leg injuries, who has since been released from hospital.
Ms Tuckerman said she first realised something was wrong when she saw a “guy looking for the owner of the house … [who was] using a wooden bat to beat the door down”.
“The owner didn’t answer, so the guy left, but there were lots of other guys – about eight or nine – arguing out the front of the house on their phones.
“And I just knew it was going to escalate into some kind of violence, but I just didn’t know when and what sort. “She said soon after the bat incident she heard a gun shot, quickly followed by another.
“That’s when I started getting really scared and woke my husband up,” Ms Tuckerman said.”We could see all the guys over there, and we could hear them [being] quite frantic, saying: ‘There’s a guy shot in the house, we don’t know what to do, he’s dying, can someone help please’.”
Ms Tuckerman waited until police arrived and offered to run inside and help, despite fearing the gunman or gunmen were still at large.
“I went across and discovered a guy in a pool of blood, he looked dead to me but I did look for a pulse, couldn’t find one, performed CPR, and ambulance came about 15 minutes later,” she said.
“He was then pronounced dead.” Detective Senior Sergeant Shane O’Connell said police were looking for more than one offender.
“We have information that suggests there were more than one offenders, and they fled on foot towards McDonalds Road [Epping] after the attack,” he said.
“We expect they may have been fleeing in quite a rush, and we are asking people who may have seen any erratic vehicles just after 11 last night in the area to come forward.”
Detective Senior Sergeant O’Connell said police have spoken to several people about the incident, but that no arrests had been made.
“It’s a fairly horrendous incident,” he said.
“That someone would attempt this at a residential neighbourhood is very concerning for us”
He said detectives would be reviewing CCTV footage from neighbouring security cameras.
Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said the owner of the house was a man in his “late 30s to early 40s” who lived with his wife and children.
She said she did not believe her neighbour was either of the two victims who were shot.
She said the house was always loud, and that there were “always burnouts and carrying on outside the house”.
“We didn’t even think anything of it until police arrived,” she said, referring to the yelling and shots she heard coming from the house.
“This is just starting.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppers.com.au.
