Driveway shooting ‘to send a message’
POLICE believe the brazen daylight shooting of an Upper Coomera father yesterday was “intended to send a message.”
Steven Jaison Saillot was reversing out the driveway of his Roe St home when he was ambushed by a man wielding a handgun which was fitted with a silencer.
The gunman opened fire on Mr Saillot, injuring his left eye, before making a speedy getaway in a white hatchback driven by another man.
Acting Detective Inspector Mark Procter told the Bulletin he believed Mr Saillot was lucky to survive the attack.
“I don’t think it was random, it was to send a message,” he said.
Acting Det Insp Procter said Mr Saillot and a workmate were leaving for work when the assailants’ car pulled in behind them.
“The passenger has stepped out of the white hatch and he has opened fire basically on the green utility,” Acting Det Insp Procter said.
“It has struck (Mr Saillot) in the left eye and he’s received quite severe injuries.
“He’s obviously very lucky he’s survived these injuries.”
As the two alleged offenders then fled the scene a panicked Mr Saillot and his passenger fled from their car, crossed a small park and hid in the garden of a house on Prominent Cres.
Mr Saillot’s family were not home at the time of the incident.
Neighbours reported hearing yelling coming from the park, saying they had not heard any gunshots.
One neighbour, who declined to be named, reported seeing Mr Saillot with “blood pouring everywhere”.
She said she had seen a man and a crying woman run past her fence line shortly before police and ambulance officers arrived in the area.
Another unnamed neighbour said she heard what sounded like men yelling in the park bordering her property.
Jen Hutchinson, who only moved into the area this year, said it was generally quiet.
“I’ve got two kids in bed at the moment,” she said.
“I’m going to be locking every single door.”
Acting Det Insp Procter said they hadn’t located the weapon or identified the two alleged offenders.
Mr Saillot is understood to be a painter and according to an ABN search, had registered painting business Jetspeed Coatings from August 2004 until its cancellation in 2015.
Last year Mr Saillot broke his leg after a jetski driver slammed into his $40,000 kevlar Bullet 1750 boat.
A Gold Coast University Hospital spokeswoman said Mr Saillot was in a stable condition.