Manhunt continues for man who fired shot at car at busy Coast shopping centre

Police have released new details about a shooting incident at a major Gold Coast shopping centre as they continue to hunt for the gunman

A white Mercedes was torched at Biggera Waters on Saturday night following a shooting at the shopping centre.

POLICE believe a stolen hire car was involved in a shooting at one of the Gold Coast’s busiest shopping centres.

It comes as police hunt for a masked man who fired two shots into the side of a Range Rover in the Harbour Town car park at about 10pm on Saturday night.

It’s understood police are investigating what type of firearm was used with either a .22 calibre rifle or an air rifle thought to have been used to terrorise the driver and passenger.

The people in the car, a 22-year-old woman and 38-year-old man were not injured.

A car was torched at Biggera Waters, Saturday night.

The offender has then run to a white Mercedes and driven off. The car was later found on fire in an affluent Biggera Waters street.

Gold Coast District detective Inspector Brendan Smith said police understood the Mercedes had been stolen, and suspect it may have been taken from a hire car company.

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Det Insp Smith said police were treating the case very seriously.

“It’s still unclear as to what type of firearm it is, although we think it’s an air rifle or possibly a .22,” Insp Smith said.

“Any firearms offence will be treated as one of the highest priorities that we look at.

“While we don’t know the circumstances, anyone willing to use a firearm in a public place, the consequences could be tragic for anyone.”

Emergency services worked to put out the torched car at Biggera Waters.

Insp Smith said it was still under investigation as to whether it was a random attack or not.

“It’s too early to say (whether it was random), the offender has come up to the vehicle, his face was covered, it’s not like he was randomly shooting out of a car. He has gone up to that victims in this case, before firing.

“At this point, it’s unclear as to what, if anything was said, but it certainly doesn’t sound like there was.

“It appears the vehicle, which was burnt out, was registered interstate, we are still in the process of trying to track down the owner and speak to them.”

The man and woman fled to a home on East Quay Dve, before calling police.

A short time later police were called to the same street where they found the Mercedes on fire.

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A nearby resident, who asked not to be named, said she ran to see what was going on because she thought her home was on fire.

“We heard this loud pop, it was really loud, at about 10pm, we saw the glow and thought one of our bedrooms was on fire,” the witness said.

“We saw the car completely in flames, the heat coming off it could be felt from a couple of storeys up (and across the street).

“The bonnet (of the car) just melted.

“We called the fire brigade and then the dog squad came through and checked the area out. “The car was towed away late last night.”

The Mercedes and the Range Rover were both towed from the street, to be forensically examined.

If you have information that can assist police, contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 and quote QP1900134265.