‘HUNTED HIM DOWN’
Group with ‘Rambo knives’ stabbed young dad dead in heart of tourism hub and then they attacked his mates
RAYMOND Harris was stabbed to death by a group of men armed with Rambo knives who hunted him down before later bashing his mates, police will allege. The young father, 27, (above) died after an altercation on the Surfers Paradise party strip at 9pm on Wednesday.
A GROUP of men armed with Rambo knives stormed the heart of Surfers Paradise and stabbed a young father to death before bashing his friends at a nearby hotel gaming room, police will allege.
Raymond Harris, 27, died after he suffered a stab wound to the torso during an altercation on the busy Cavill Ave corner with party strip Orchid Avenue about 9pm on Wednesday.
Detective Superintendent Brendan Smith said police would allege the men travelled to Surfers Paradise armed to “hunt down” Harris and his friends.
After the stabbing the group allegedly stormed the Surfers Beer Garden where they assaulted friends of Mr Harris in the gaming room, Supt Smith claimed.
“They’ve clearly gone into Cavill Ave to (allegedly) hunt down the victim and his friends and have the confrontation,” Supt Smith claimed.
“It just shows their (alleged) mindset that they’ve just basically stabbed and killed someone in the street and they’ve kept on … going into a licensed premises to attack other people.”
Jarod James Miller, 21, from Tinana, and 18-year-old Jye Sebastian Webb-Italia from Pimpama were later both charged with one count of murder, after Mr Harris’s death, and three counts of assault.
Supt Smith said CCTV clearly captured the stabbing, and in the lead up to it, showed a group of men with at least two hunting knives.
In the wake of the incident the entertainment hub was lit up with emergency service lights, with small roads leading to Gold Coast Hwy and Ferry Ave blocked off by police cars, while numerous officers searched vehicles.
A venue bouncer said he had never seen so many cops running.
“Pretty much everyone in that Surfers police station ran off down the road, would have been 10 plus, 15 plus police,” the bouncer said.
Supt Smith said the motive for the stabbing was unclear, but the two groups were believed to be known to each other.
Two people were arrested in a nearby carpark 30 minutes after the stabbing attack. Two more men were arrested on Thursday afternoon and were speaking with police.
Miller requested to be brought into Southport Magistrates Court during a brief mention on Thursday, but did not say a word, and had no supporters in the gallery.
He spent the appearance staring at the ground.
Webb-Italia’s lawyer Rodney Keyte, of TWC Lawyers, said outside of court his client was in “a world of shock”.
Mr Keyte said the allegations put forward by police were “murky”.
Both matters were adjourned until October 15.
It’s the third stabbing death in Surfers Paradise in less than 12 months.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Policelink on 131 444 or Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.