Stuart Saunders shot in targeted attack in Hervey Bay

A Hervey Bay man with history of violent offences was in critical condition on Thursday after being shot in a targeted attack near a primary school.

A man shot in the stomach at his unit in Torquay was in a critical condition on Thursday, as investigations into the incident continued.

Victim Stuart Saunders has been before local courts on multiple occasions including for a particularly brutal series of events in 2019 when he used his then girlfriend as punching bag and hospitalised her on several occasions.

Mr Saunders was flown to hospital in Brisbane on Wednesday where he remained in critical condition, a Queensland Health spokesman said.

A police spokeswoman said investigations into the shooting were ongoing. No charges have been laid as of late Thursday morning.

Frightened neighbours in the cul-de-sac of Urangan St, Torquay reported hearing at least two gunshots and Mr Saunders groaning before he was taken away with a large bandage across his abdomen early on Wednesday.

Stuart Saunders was shot in the abdomen. He’s pictured during a previous appearance in Hervey Bay Magistrate’s Court.

Speaking to reporters at Hervey Bay on Wednesday morning, Detective Senior Sergeant Steven Watts said police were still interviewing a number of witnesses and examining CCTV and other intelligence sources.

He said one woman, understood to be Mr Saunders’ grandmother, was asleep in the home at the time and unharmed.

Investigations into the identity of the shooter, who fled the scene, were ongoing and while police believed the gun used was “low calibre” there were no other details about the make or model.

Police at the scene of a shooting in the Hervey Bay suburb of Torquay.

While he understood neighbours were “absolutely” concerned, Det Snr Sgt Watts said police did not believe there was any ongoing risk to public safety.

“The information we have at this point in time is that this is a targeted offence between individuals who are known to each other,” he said.

Referencing the ongoing QPS Operation Whiskey Firestorm, which targets unlawful possession of weapons and the use of weapons in crimes, Det Snr Sgt Watts said detectives treated gun offences with the “upmost seriousness” and “this morning is just another example of the harm firearms can do in the community when they are in the wrong hands”.

Detective Senior Sergeant Steven Watts speaks to reporters following the shooting of Hervey Bay man Stuart Saunders.

He would not be drawn on whether drugs or Mr Saunders’ criminal history played a role in the investigation as it was “too early”.

Hervey Bay Magistrates Court previously heard Saunders, who was 21 at the time, punched his then-girlfriend in the face, spat in her eye and threatened to rape her, after driving her to a location where nobody would hear her screams.

For this he was placed on a 12-month intensive corrections order, which is a community-based jail sentence served under intensive supervision.

The court heard he’d also been sentenced for random attacks on strangers – punching a driver through his car window and fracturing his face after trying to run him off the road in 2017 and also attacking two brothers during a night out in Hervey Bay.

Det Snr Sgt Watts said on Wednesday the patient’s medical treatment had “taken priority”, but police were hoping to speak to him later in the day.

The shooting happened just a few metres from Torquay State School.

Neighbours described the sound of one of the gunshots as “like a baseball bat hitting into a window”.

One neighbour who moved in six years ago and asked to not be named, said Mr Saunders lived in the brick unit with his grandmother, and that his mother lived in another unit in the same street.

Paramedics have responded to a reported gunshot wounding overnight in the Hervey Bay suburb of Torquay.

He described the victim as “a bit of a hermit” who kept to himself and was rarely seen.

The neighbour heard two shots, one that sounded like it happened inside the flat and then another outside.

He said he heard the outside shot then the grandmother calling out.

Mr Saunders was by then collapsed on the ground and saying that he could not breathe, the neighbour said.

By 8am Wednesday there were two unmarked police cars parked out front of the unit and one marked, with four police officers on the scene.

There was no police tape or blood visible.

Urangan St is a quiet and leafy residential street comprised mostly of brick units.

Neighbours described it as mostly peaceful in recent years but said there used to be a lot of fighting and police presence.

Wednesday morning’s incident was first time in years the police had been in the street, they said.

Urangan St in Torquay, a quiet residential street only metres away from Torquay State School, was the scene of a shooting in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The shooting comes just days after another man was taken to hospital after being shot in the back in Maryborough.

The man, aged in his 30s, with a wound to his lower back, was transported to Maryborough Hospital following the wounding incident on Cambridge Street, Granville at 9.20pm on July 24.

He was taken in a stable condition.

Police confirmed they were investigating the incident and have not yet said whether the two are linked.

“Emergency services were called around 9.15pm to a service station on Cambridge Street following reports a 34-year-old man had been assaulted at an address in Granville,” a spokesman said in relation to the Maryborough shooting.

“The victim was transported to Maryborough Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

“No complaint has been forthcoming, and investigations remain ongoing.”

Originally published as Stuart Saunders shot in targeted attack in Hervey Bay