Resident ‘counting blessings’ after drive-by
CARL Schwalger is lucky to be alive after lead missed his head by centimetres in a drive-by shooting at his Arundel home.
And the rattled resident has revealed someone tried to rob him at home the day before the shooting.
Mr Schwalger was lying on the couch in his living room when he spotted lights outside the house on Wednesday night. When he stood up to peer out the front window, all hell broke loose.
“Just heard a crack, that’s it,” he said yesterday of the shot that was fired at the home.
“I knew it was a gun straight away, just a crack and shell through my window.
“My mum and wife were in the living room. We’re shocked.”
A police spokesperson said two men were believed to have pulled up outside the Tiger St address about 9.25pm, fired at the house and then drove away.
Still visibly upset yesterday, Mr Schwalger said he had barely slept a wink after the shot and family members feared for their lives.
“Yeah, counting my blessings,” he said.
He said there was an attempted robbery at his house the day before and thought it could have been the same people.
“They wanted money and just wouldn’t give them I any,” he said. Police confirmed a robbery at the property on January 9.
The drive-by shooting marked the fourth gun-related incident on the Gold Coast in just over a month. One was a fatal domestic shooting, the other three were drive-by incidents.
Acting Detective Inspector Matthew Ward said recent shootings were not linked.
“I’d suggest one (gun crime) is a high number for any community. Certainly three is a concern to us and for that reason we will give them our highest attention,” he said.
“Taskforce Trench does look at firearms and taskforces can be set up and disbanded at any given time depending on the need and that’s an ongoing assessment.”
He said there was no information to suggest there was an increase in illegal guns on the Gold Coast.