Gun-wielding offender attempts car-jacking

By Evelyn Leckie

A YOUNG mother was followed to her Wallan home by a gun-weidling offender over the weekend, where the man allegedly attempted to take her car, with her niece in the back seat.

The Wallan resident said she believed if her partner had not stepped in, the gunman would have taken her eight-year-old niece and car.

“It was really scary, I’d never seen a gun before until that moment,” the woman told Channel 7 news.

The 22-year-old was driving back from a Wallan takeaway pizza store on High Street on Saturday night when she noticed a dark coloured SUV driving closely behind with its lights off.

“They’ve pulled up in front of my house, and the guy from the back seat has jumped out of his car and run towards me with a gun and he said ‘move, get out of the way, get on the floor,’” she said.

“I was like, please don’t – my niece is still in the car.”

The mother said as the gunman turned around to see her niece in the backseat, her partner ripped the man from the car.

After a brief scuffle, the gunman fled the scene in the SUV.

The mother’s car was towed from her Bridgewater Parkway home in Newbridge Estate for forensic testing as the gunman was not wearing gloves at the time.

Sergeant Bob Derrett told the North Central Review the gunman was travelling in a stolen dark Honda SUV.

“We know the stolen car was travelling around the Wallan area, a short time before the attack, possibly in Hidden Valley,” Sgt Derrett said.

“If anyone saw a dark Honda SUV acting suspiciously on Saturday around the Wallan or Hidden Valley area from 5 to 10pm please call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.”

The attacker was described as being around 170cm tall, Caucasian with brown eyes, brown hair and a solid build.

He was wearing a black tracksuit with a red shirt at the time of the incident.