BIRTHDAY BLAST
Shotgun shooting on Surfers Paradise balcony as 18th party turns ugly
AN alleged gunman is on the loose and a shotgun victim recovering in hospital after the latter’s 18th birthday at a Surfers Paradise unit turned into a crime scene.
Police were last night on the hunt for the alleged shooter who fired a blast which struck birthday boy Hayden Miller in his arm, putting him in hospital.
Mr Miller was hit while marking his 18th on the balcony of a unit in the Tiki Hotel near central Surfers Paradise on Saturday night.
Brody Collins, a friend of Mr Miller’s, wished him well online yesterday, posting: “Luv you big boy, I’ll come visit you whenever I’m allowed, hope you get better soon.”
It is understood police believe Mr Miller did not know the person who shot him.
AN 18th party erupted into chaos when a gunshot rang out at a Surfers Paradise hotel unit wounding the birthday boy – and an alleged gunman is still on the loose.
It’s understood Hayden Miller had been celebrating his birthday on Saturday night, when he was shot in the arm, with what was believed to have been a shotgun.
Early investigations suggest Mr Miller and the alleged shooter are not known to each other, although there had been an earlier interaction between the two groups before the 10.45pm shooting in the Tiki Hotel.
It’s believed only one shot was fired.
Mr Miller and a number of his friends were in the hotel at the time of the shooting.
The exact circumstances that led up to the shooting are still under investigation, although police sources have told the Bulletin, claims of an argument over loud music were false.
It’s understood the alleged shooter fled the building after the incident, with emergency services descending on the hotel, including specialist police. No arrest had been made at the time of print.
Mr Miller was rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital and was in a stable condition yesterday.
The spokesman said early investigations suggest Mr Miller did not know the person responsible.
Mr Miller’s friends took to social media yesterday expressing their support for the teenager.
“Luv you big boy, I’ll come visit you whenever I’m allowed hope you get better soon,” Brody Collins wrote.
Forensic police spent yesterday going through the two units and examining the balcony where the shooting occurred.
It is understood a number
of residents were woken about 5am when police forced entry into the shooter’s unit.
Brodi Reincastle was sitting in a nearby park when he heard the shot.
“I didn’t hear anything before or after the shot, it just echoed throughout Surfers. No one was running or screaming. It seemed like it was a regular thing that gun shots would go off randomly in Surfers.”
One woman who asked to be only known as Ellie said she was stopped from returning to her room in the hotel.
She and her partner were told to go around the block and eventually parked down the street.
“(We were told) that there was just an argument and one guy got shot in the arm and the other guy was refusing to leave,” she said.
Ellie said they were forced to wait for police to give the all clear before they came back inside.
Another woman, who declined to be named, said she had been living at the complex for about two months and this was not the first time police had been called.
She said her children woke up to a loud noise last night.
Parts of Surfers Paradise were in lockdown for several hours, with an exclusion zone set up along the Gold Coast Hwy between Thomas Dve and Beach Road. The highway reopened at 2.55am.
The Bulletin attempted to contact the Tiki Hotel but was hung up on.
Police are appealing for anyone with information or dashcam vision from around the area to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.