INVESTIGATORS believe the fatal shooting of a man in a quiet
Hoppers Crossing street is linked to a burglary and the theft of a car.
Emergency services were called to Strang Street about 2.20am on
Monday after neighbours found a man lying on the footpath just before
2am.
Homicide squad Detective Senior Sergeant Ron Iddles said police
were “reasonably confident” the man’s death was related to a burglary
and the theft of a BMW convertible at a nearby house.
He said one line of inquiry was that the man, in his 30s and of no
fixed address, was a burglar who was shot by an accomplice. The victim
was known to police.
Detective Senior Sergeant Iddles said neighbours reported hearing
what sounded like a gunshot and a car with a loud exhaust accelerating
away.
“They heard two men yelling, they can’t distinguish
what was being said, then they heard at least one shot and then the car
leave,” he said.
“It appears at this stage there has been an argument
between two men. We haven’t been able to establish whether they are
responsible for the burglary or not, but we believe the stolen vehicle
and the burglary are somehow connected to the man who died.”
The stolen car was found dumped 10 kilometres away in
Weaver Court, Altona Meadows on Monday afternoon after a woman heard it
was being sought and called triple-0. A plasma TV stolen from the house
was also found by police behind a white transit van parked near the
ransacked house on Branton Road.
Strang Street resident Leonard Linning, 25, and his elderly father Raymond tried to revive the victim.
His girlfriend spotted the man lying on the footpath after leaving the Linnings’ house about 2am.
Mr Linning said the man was cold and stiff, but he kept trying to “wake him up” while on the phone to paramedics.
The Linnings described it as a “quiet street”. Neither recalled hearing anything before Mr Linning’s girlfriend called.
Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000.
