Man shot dead in Wenworthville home as police hunt shooter
Police are continuing the hunt for the person who shot dead a man in his Western Sydney home overnight. Emergency crews couldn’t save the victim who died of blood loss following the attack.
Parramatta
Don't miss out on the headlines from Parramatta . Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Can $350,000 unlock mystery of Nadire’s disappearance?
- Surveillance cameras installed at schools to catch out parents
A killer who remains on the run after shooting a man dead at a home in Sydney’s west was seen by neighbours grabbing something off the porch and fleeing with a garbage bag and “big gun”.
Robert Atkinson, 44, was fatally shot in the leg in his Jones St home in Wentworthville about 7pm before a “skinny man” fled the scene in a ute.
Cumberland Police Acting Superintendent Despa Fitzgerald said the shooter and Mr Atkinson knew each other and he had escaped in a ute after being confronted by a friend of Mr Atkinson.
“We believe gunman and deceased may have known each other due to the crime scene examination,” Acting Supt Fitzgerald said.
“We’re investigating two altercations... one being the gunshot going off and another when a male visitor at the home confronted the gunman, who fled the home and got into a white or grey utility driven by another person.”
The gunshot wound is alleged to have caused Mr Atkinson’s death, and the 44 year-old was known to police prior to the incident.
No arrests have been made yet in relation to the shooting.
We’re actively investigating and if you’re involved come and hand yourself in because we will identity you and you will be arrested,” Acting Supt Fitzgerald said.
Resident Toby Jones, 32, told The Daily Telegraph they had heard yelling before the shots were fired.
“We heard some yelling… it was definitely a heated argument, there was a foreign accent but lots of swearing in there too,” Mr Jones said.
“There was a white ute we’d never seen parked out the front, we heard some banging noises then this skinny guy grabs some things off the porch, jumps into the ute and sped off.”
Mr Jones said he and his mother caught sight of the alleged gunman as he fled the home and one of the male residents of the property called the police.
“He was dark-looking, skinny and wearing baggy clothes and carrying a big gun and a garbage bag,” he said.
“The main guy that lives there has been there for 10 years, he came out of the house afterwards and was pretty distraught, he had blood all over his shirt… he was sitting on the brick wall for ages, he was pretty upset.”
“It’s disturbing to think someone’s been killed just across the road... They’re pretty straight-going Aussie blokes.”
Detectives were last night seen speaking to men outside the home following the incident.
One heavily-built man spoke to an investigator before slumping to his knees crying in his hands.
There were red splatterings of blood on the man’s arm and shirt from helping his friend.
The shooting comes just a fortnight after another man was shot in the face by attackers in an unrelated incident.
Kenny Wang was hosting a poker night with nine friends inside his Wolli Creek apartment on June 13, when two men allegedly forced their way into his home and demanded cash.
Police said one of the gatecrashers was armed with a gun.
The two intruders allegedly stole phones and $10,000 in cash from the poker party.
Robbery and Serious Crime Squad commander Grant Taylor said Wang was very lucky.
“It’s quite amazing,’’ he said.
“He was hit in the jaw area and he lost a number of teeth and significant damage to the structure of his face. If he had been shot a centimetre or two in any other direction, I’d say he would not be alive today.”