Boy, 17, shot while sleeping in Endeavour Hills home overnight
Police say a teenager shot in a hail of bullets while sleeping in his Endeavour Hills home is “extremely lucky” to be alive as they hunt two gunmen on the run.
Police & Courts
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Police are hunting two gunmen who are on the run after they blasted up to 15 shots into a home in Melbourne’s southeast, injuring a sleeping teenager.
A burnt out stolen Mitsubishi believed to be used as a getaway vehicle was found torched in Narre Warren after the mystery attackers shot into the Endeavour Hills home about 1:30am Wednesday.
The boy’s parents, a 56-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman, as well as an 11-year-old girl, were also inside the home when the gunfire rang out.
Detective Inspector Al Hanson said CCTV of the car seen to be circling the Janmara Court home right before the shooting will be crucial to their investigation.
Inspector Hanson said the shooting was believed to be a targeted attack, but the teenager and his family sleeping inside the home were not the intended victims.
He said it was “extremely lucky” that the 17-year-old boy was not killed.
Insp Hanson could not confirm how many gunshots had hit the boy or how many weapons were used in the attack.
He said the boy’s family, who escaped injury, were fully co-operating with police.
Insp Hanson said there was no threat to the community following the shooting. “I expect people to be on edge and it would only be natural, but rest assured police are devoting a lot of their energy into capturing the offenders.”
“We don’t have a random gunman driving around firing indiscriminately.”
The teenager was rushed to Alfred Hospital and is in a stable condition.
The now torched dark coloured Mitsubishi Eclipse is understood to have circled the home several times right before launching the spray of bullets.
That vehicle was stolen from the Mornington Peninsula almost two weeks ago.
One of the offenders reportedly suffered burns while torching the car.
Police say they could be searching for a second vehicle that was used to flee the Narre Warren reserve after the Mitsubishi was set alight.
Neighbours reported hearing 10 to 15 shots fired around 1:20am.
Police said a number of shots were fired into home from the road or footpath, injuring the teen as he slept.
The court in Melbourne’s south east has been cordoned off while detectives and Major Crime Scene Unit officers investigate.
Police are calling on anyone with information or dashcam footage to contact Crime Stoppers.
The latest shooting comes amid a wave of violence targeting young teenagers across Melbourne in recent months.
Two teens, 14 and 15, were charged after the horror abduction of a schoolboy in Glen Huntly on September 4.
He was thrown from the car where witnesses say he was coughing blood.
The victim, Glen Eira Secondary College student Benjamin, remains in hospital with “life-altering” injuries.
Several robberies have also occurred around many prestigious Melbourne high schools.
Recent figures show an alarming spike in crimes committed by children aged 10 to 14 continues to rise.
It comes as the Andrews government has committed to raising the age a child can be arrested, charged or jailed from 10 to 12 by the end of next year.
Yoorrook Justice Commission — an independent body probing laws and policies in Victoria that impact Indigenous Victorians — has called for a ban on jailing all offenders under the age of 16.
Neighbour Matt said he heard up to 15 loud bangs that woke he and his mother in the middle of the shooting.
“You don’t think right away that it’s going to be gunshots,” he told the Herald Sun.
“My mother was quite shaken up at the noise, we didn’t know what it was or what had happened.”
“There were between 10 and 15 of the same loud popping noises.”
Another neighbour, who wished not to be named, said the rapid succession of gunfire sounded like “fireworks”.
“The whole street stayed dark and the dogs started barking,” she said.
“You wonder if you feel safe in your own home.”
Forensic investigators could be seen marking where at least 20 bullet shell casings laid on the nature strip.
Police photographed the exterior of a two storey brick house that remained taped off from the rest of the court.
The number of children in this age bracket committing burglaries shot up by 86.7 per cent in the past year to March this year.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said it was understandable that the community was concerned about a youth crime wave, but maintained Victoria was safe.
“The perception that there is more crime happening now than there was a month ago or the like is an obvious reaction,” she said.
“I fully accept that when you have a series of circumstances that people get worried.
“What we know from police is that we have a very safe state here in Victoria.
“The stats would show we have a small cohort of serious offenders and that is a concern, but overall youth crime is quite low historically.”
Police are calling on anyone with information or dashcam footage to contact Crime Stoppers.
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