Northern beaches man fled attacker in car despite spear sticking out of his chest centimetres from his heart

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A manhunt is under way after a 48-year-old man was shot with a speargun on Sydney’s northern beaches.

The victim fled his attacker in a car, despite the spear still sticking out from his chest just centimetres from his heart. He was found just before 5pm on Friday on Coonaga Road at Avalon Beach, police said.

Police believe the injured man was shot with the speargun outside a home on North Avalon Road. He was treated by paramedics at the scene, with a spokesman for NSW Ambulance saying the speargun shaft was lodged 5cm inside his torso.

Police are searching the caves on the northern beaches headland as they hunt for the alleged attacker, who is described as a man of Caucasian appearance, 190cm tall, 35 years old, with a slim build and dreadlocks. He was last seen wearing a blue jumper and dark jeans and is often accompanied by a dog that has been described as a dingo, police said.

Police said the attack would be classified as wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, a serious crime carrying a sentence of up to 25 years’ imprisonment.

Detective Chief Inspector Michael Boutouridis said of the victim: “He had a spear protruding from his chest and he was obviously in agony.

“He was taken to North Shore hospital where it was established that the spear narrowly missed his heart. He’s a very lucky man to be alive. We would have otherwise been talking about a murder.”

Boutouridis said the man had been shot at close range outside a North Avalon Road home “several hundred metres away”. He described what happened next as an “incredible escape”.

“The attack continued, allegedly, after the spear attack, with a knife [or] sharp weapon,” he said. “The injured man was able to get into his own car and drive away and hold the spear and stem any bleeding.”

Boutouridis said of the alleged attacker: “The latest is that we know in the past he has been sleeping rough, he’s experienced in sleeping in cars and even in the caves on the Northern Beaches headland ... Our search is directed in that area.”

Boutouridis urged the public not to approach the man but to call triple zero if he was spotted.

“It wasn’t a random attack, the two men knew each other ... this was a meeting that obviously went wrong,” he said. “I have no information right now to suggest that he intends to harm anyone else.”

The victim of the attack underwent surgery overnight.

“He’s shaken up, but he’s talking, he’s conscious,” Boutouridis said.