An innocent Elsies River father was shot in the head while waiting for his e-hailing taxi to take him home on Friday.
According to the family of Colin Lindst, 29, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Colin, who is a dad of two children aged four and seven years old, with another baby on the way, had just finished his shift at a local business in Forest Drive, Epping, and was waiting for his taxi.
His boss, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, says Colin had greeted staff and had just walked out the front door when shots rang out.
He explains: “Colin was standing with his phone in his hand waiting to go home. His cousin who was busy with wrong things stood close to him when they started shooting.
“Colin was shot once in the jaw, while his cousin was shot eight times.
“When we came outside, he was still breathing, we called for the ambulance that did not show up and he died an hour later,” says the boss.
Daily Voice tried to speak to Colin’s partner but she was still too traumatised.
The boss described Colin as a diligent, hard worker, who always showed up for work no matter what.
The hartseer boss adds: “He worked for his family, that is one thing. I’ve known Colin for 15 years and he has always been the person you could depend on, he was like a child to me.
“Why they shot him is really something we want to know, because he did not deserve it.
“What they did was cowardice, they could have just gone for the intended person. Now his children have to grow up without their father who loved them so very much.
Police spokesperson, Sergeant Wesley Twigg, confirmed the shooting.
Giving the details of the heartbreaking case, Twigg says: “The circumstances surrounding a shooting incident on Friday, 3 November 2023 at about 1.30pm in Forest Drive, Epping, where two males aged 29 and 33 were shot and fatally wounded, are under investigation.
“Elsies River police responded to a complaint of a shooting and upon arrival on the scene, they found the victims with gunshot wounds to their bodies.
“Both victims were declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel.
Twigg adds that the motive for the shooting forms part of a police investigation.
Explaining law enforcement’s next move, he says: “Elsies River police are investigating two counts of murder.”