Gun used in Logan gym shooting found at Gold Coast theme park

A rifle used to shoot a man during a “drug deal gone wrong” outside a Logan gym was located just over a week later at a Gold Coast theme park, a court has heard.

A rifle used to shoot a man outside a Logan gym in 2021 was located just over a week later at Sea World, a court has heard.

A rifle used to shoot a man in the buttocks during a “drug deal gone bad” outside a Logan gym was located just over a week later at Sea World, a court has heard at the shooter’s sentencing today.

Thomas John Rae, 27, faced Brisbane District Court on Friday after pleading guilty earlier this week to one count each of unlawful wounding and possessing a category H firearm in public.

The court was told Rae had used a single action rifle to shoot Zachary Mohammad in the buttocks outside Lifestyle Fitness Centre in Springwood on June 10, 2021.

Mr Mohammad, 21 at the time, had parked in the gym carpark around an hour before Rae arrived, with others, in the early hours of morning.

The court heard he started to run when he spotted Rae approaching with a firearm, but Rae ran after him and shot him.

Judge Ian Dearden said the incident was “obviously some sort of drug deal gone bad”.

The court heard the firearm used in the shooting was located just over a week later at Sea World in a “room linked to an associate of (Rae)”.

Rae was arrested and charged with attempted murder the following day, but that charge was later downgraded to unlawful wounding.

The court was told Rae had pleaded guilty to the wounding on the basis that he had intended to scare or intimidate Mr Mohammad, not to actually strike him.

Rae had spent three years and four months in custody on remand since his arrest, which Judge Dearden said was “well and truly enough time”.

The court heard Rae had committed the wounding just five months after the conclusion of a 12-month jail term – for which he had been granted immediate parole.

He also committed a common assault on another inmate in late 2021 while in custody on remand for the shooting.

Judge Dearden noted Rae intended to move to New South Wales with his family upon his release from custody to remove himself from his connections in the Logan drug trade.

Rae had been a “gifted” rugby league player in the past and hoped to reconnect with the sport after his move to NSW, the court was told.

“This is your chance to make a life for yourself that does not involve spending your whole life in jail,” Judge Dearden told Rae.

“Wherever you are there is still temptation, so you’ve got to find a way of adjusting your thinking and the way you approach life.”

“You’ve got to commit to a drug free and a crime free life in order to stay out (of custody).”

Rae was sentenced to three years in jail with immediate release, plus a cumulative three months for the common assault committed in custody.

1097 days of his time in custody were declared time-served for the wounding and possessing the category H weapon, and 97 days (three months) were declared time served for the common assault.

A remaining 29 days were taken into account but not formally declared as time-served.

Rae pleaded guilty at sentence to the common assault, along with possessing a weapon with altered identification marks, possessing dangerous drugs (meth), unlawfully possessing a relevant substance or thing, possess utensils or pipes, possess property suspected of being acquired for use in a drug offence, and two counts of possess explosives.