OFF THE WIRE
A NEW father is in a critical condition in hospital after he was shot in a planned attack that may have hit the wrong target.
The 23-year-old was shot three times by two men before he could open the door of his family home at Prestons in south-west Sydney on Thursday night.
The bullets, fired by a small calibre firearm, managed to penetrate the wooden door and strike him in the head and chest.
The gunmen would not have had a clear view of their victim and police have not ruled out the possibility the man was not the intended target of the attack.
Investigators said the victim, whose first child was born three months ago, was a ''clean skin'' and was not known to police.
His neighbours described him as a quiet, polite man who had a nine-to-five office job. He had lived at the home with his wife and mother-in-law since he was married 18 months ago.
The man's baby son and two-year-old nephew were asleep inside the house when the shots were fired.
His brother-in-law also resides at the Siena Close home and is understood to have links to the Hells Angels motorcycle gxxg. He was not at home at the time of the attack but arrived at the scene a short time later.
Superintendent Ray King said detectives had not yet determined a motive for why the father would have been shot at home.
''At this stage there is no positive evidence to suggest that it is gang related however police will investigate all avenues,'' he said.
''Police believe this is a targeted attack and not a random shooting.''
Neighbours said they heard three loud bangs and then silence before a woman started screaming: ''He's been shot, someone get help. Save my husband.''
The woman held her husband in her arms as he bled and yelled: ''Wake up, wake up. We have got a baby. You can't die.''
Their next door neighbour, Scott Kitchner, performed CPR on the man and compressed his head and chest wounds until the ambulance arrived. Witnesses saw the two gunmen, dressed in dark clothing, run from the home towards the end of the street.
Police believe they then made their way down an alleyway where they had a car parked beside a main road.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/police-look-for-motive-behind-house-shooting-20110401-1crnq.html
