A FOURTH man has been charged following a fatal shooting in Port Stephens earlier this year.

About 1.45pm on Sunday 29 August 2021, emergency services were called to Hideaway Drive, Salt Ash, following reports a white Ford Ranger utility had hit a tree.

Officers from Port Stephens-Hunter Police District attended, along with NSW Ambulance paramedics, and located a male driver suffering a fatal gunshot wound.

He was later identified as 45-year-old David King.

A short time later, officers located a burnt-out white Santa Fe on Masonite Road, Heatherbrae, which police believe is allegedly linked to the shooting.

Police believe that the shooting was a targeted attack and will continue to argue that the men shot Mr King, then fled the scene in the vehicle.

Detectives established Strike Force Breve to investigate the incident, with assistance from the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad.

Three men – aged 26, 27 and 39 – have since been arrested and charged.

The 26-year-old has also been charged with sexually assaulting a woman in the car, before it was set on fire.
They are currently before the courts.

Following further inquiries, about 10am on Tuesday 23 November 2021, police arrested a 28-year-old man at Newcastle Police Station.

He was charged with murder, take/detain person in company without to obtain advantage, and possess shortened firearm (not pistol) without authority.

The man was refused bail and appeared in Newcastle Local Court where he was formally refused bail to reappear in Raymond Terrace Local Court on Monday 17 January 2022.

 

By Tara CAMPBELL