The victims of a terrifying shooting on the Gold Coast have described the moment they realised their car had been shot at.
The husband and wife were travelling along Tweed Street in Coolangatta with their 13-year-old son around 5.10pm on Saturday when their Hyundai station wagon was targeted.
A projectile was fired through the driver’s side window, grazing a 55-year-old man, who was sitting in the passenger seat, on the back of the neck.
His wife said the couple heard a “massive bang” before realising what had occurred.
“We were driving up Tweed Street and we heard a massive bang… I turned to my husband and he was grabbing the back of his neck,” she said.
“He said that he’d been hurt and he looked to his left and could see there was a round hole in the door frame.
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The man said the shocking incident happened while they were on a “family night out” for dinner and bowling.
“I felt my whole body push forward, I looked to my right and saw (my wife’s) window was completely shattered,” he said.
“I said I think we’ve been shot, and then I felt the back of my neck and there was blood.
“It was a very scary situation.”
He said he initially thought his son’s basketball had exploded.
“The first thing that went through my mind was I thought my son was playing around with his basketball, and his basketball had exploded behind my head and just pushed me forward,” he said.
“But yeah, once I realized that it was a shooting, I was just dumbfounded.
“It was such a surreal thing to think that this would happen, because it doesn’t happen around here on the Gold Coast”.
While shaken, the couple admits they’re just grateful to not have been more seriously injured.
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“People keep saying ‘Buy a lottery ticket’ but I keep saying that we’ve just exhausted all our luck for the rest of our lives, so we’ll just be grateful with that,” the wife said.
A major manhunt is now underway to track down those responsible, with investigators appealing to anyone who witnessed something suspicious in the area – or may have any relevant footage from the vicinity at the time – to come forward.
It comes as officers continue to investigate a drive-by shooting at the Arundel Police Beat which happened in the early hours of Monday morning.
Investigators are looking into whether the incident may be linked to a number of recent violent car thefts on the northern Gold Coast.
More to come.
IMAGE: Supplied
