Man shot and dumped at Tweed Heads hospital dies from stomach wound

A MAN who was shot in the stomach and dumped outside a hospital has died but police investigating say he is not a bikie.

Forensic police at the Tweed Heads hospital on Saturday.

POLICE are investigating the fatal shooting of a man dumped outside a NSW hospital by an unidentified woman on Saturday but are adamant the man is not a bikie.

It was believed the heavily tattooed man aged in has 30s was a member of the Lone Wolf bikie gang and was shot in retribution for a wild, State of Origin night pub brawl.

He was dumped outside the entrance of Tweed Head hospital in the state’s far north by the woman just before 4.30pm on Saturday with a gunshot wound to the stomach, however, emergency doctors were unable to save him.

Police at the Tweed Hospital on Saturday night.

The Sunday Telegraph reported the death followed a brawl involving knives and baseball bats between Lone Wolf and Bandidos bikies outside Seagulls Leagues Club at Tweed Heads on State of Origin night.

But Detective Superintendent Wayne Starling dismissed that report on Sunday and said the man was not a bikie.

“The victim of the shooting was not a member of any outlaw motorcycle gang known to us,” he said.

“It had nothing to do with the brawl at the Seagull club but we look at all avenues of inquiry, we don’t mark off any line.”

Supt Starling said the man was known to police.

Strikeforce Varnell has been established to investigate the murder.

Tweed Heads commander Superintendent Wayne Starling said the man was not a bikie but known to police. Photo: Steve Holland

Attempts were still being made to inform the victim’s family, Supt Starling said.

The commander of the Tweed Heads police station said the woman who left the man at the hospital had been interviewed.

“There was a lady involved in the drop off at the hospital yesterday afternoon and she is just one of many witnesses we’re interviewing at this stage,” Supt said, according to the ABC.

“She’s obviously very traumatised by the incident.”

It is unclear where the shooting took place.

The Tweed area has been home to several outlaw motorcycle gangs in recent years, with control of the local drug trade changing hands repeatedly.

In March 2014 a clubhouse operated by Odin’s Warriors was shut down by the NSW Gangs Squad. A year later a Rebels clubhouse was also shut down.

The latest violence is likely to prompt a response from the Gangs Squad’s proactive arm, Strike Force Raptor.

But Supt Starling insisted there was no problem with bikies in his region.

“There is no bikie problem at the southern end of the Gold Coast or in the local Tweed area … the crime levels in the Tweed borough are the lowest in history,” he told the ABC.

Forensic police at The Tweed Hospital.