UPDATE 1.50pm
Victoria Police has confirmed that its Echo taskforce has taken over the investigation into the shooting of a man in Narre Warren last night.
The police taskforce was set up to probe outlaw bikie gangs.
EARLIER
By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS AND ANEEKA SIMONIS
A SHAKEN neighbour said she heard a diesel truck or four-wheel drive idling for 10 minutes near the scene when a man was shot on Berwick Springs Promenade, Narre Warren, on Wednesday night.
The witness said she then heard a loud gunshot about 9.30pm, just metres from her house near Louise Baille Avenue.
She said she didn’t know the victim who was in his late 30s or 40s who called out: “Help me. I’ve been shot. I’ve been hurt.”
This morning, she washed away a pool of blood from the footpath, which fronts a popular water-fountain park and is often frequented by children and families, she said.
“I thought the house was hit. It was frightening.
“My husband wouldn’t let me go out in case it wasn’t safe.
“I just hope the man is OK.”
Another neighbour said the victim was initially helped by a young couple who were passing by in a 4WD.
She said the man appeared to have been shot in the back.
“They were calling on the phone, saying he’s been shot, he’s bleeding everywhere.”
Within minutes, police, a helicopter and paramedics swept the area, neighbours said.
The man was flown to The Alfred hospital with a critical torso wound.
The man’s condition has since been downgraded to non-life-threatening, a police spokesman said on Thursday morning.
