Kings Cross Shooting

[Sway]

By Evelyn Yamine and Joel Christie

March 03, 2008 03:30pm

LEAGUE star Jarryd Hayne was with fellow Eels Junior Paulo and Weller Hauraki when he was caught up in a shooting in a Kings Cross street, it has emerged.

Parramatta ace Hayne is this afternoon at Kings Cross police station undergoing questioning.

He was on a night out which ended in terrfiying drama when the group was targeted by a drive-by gunman - one of two shootings in the vicinity overnight.

It is understood they were shot at on Ward Street in Kings Cross as they walked away from the Las Vegas Hotel at 4.20am today.


St-George-Illawarra player Mark Gasnier was not with the group, despite earlier reports to the contrary.

A spokesman this afternoon said Gasnier had been out in town but had left for home earlier.

He had been linked to the incident by Parramatta CEO Denis Fitzgerald, who earlier today cited sources within the club as saying Gasnier was present.

That was clarified by a statement released by St George-Illawarra today.

"Arising from reported events overnight in the city, the St George-Illawarra Dragons upon investigation of the facts advise that Mark Gasnier was not involved in any incident," it said.

"Mark Gasnier was in the city along with other NRL players from other clubs but was not in the city or vicinity at the time of any alleged incident.

"The club and Mark Gasnier are very disappointed and concerned about how Mark has been sensationally linked by inaccurate reports.''

Hayne and his two pals escaped injury in the incident, which police said was not related to an earlier shooting in Kings Cross last night in which a nightclub owner at the nearby Sapphire Suite was wounded.

Without naming who was involved, police said a Parramatta man was shot at on Ward St at 4.20am (AEDT) by a man standing beside a car.
"A Parramatta man in his 20s informed police that he was walking in the (Kings Cross) area with two friends when he noticed a man standing beside a car," a police spokeswoman told reporters.

"The man then fired a single shot in his direction.

"The three men then ran from the area and contacted police.

"The man who fired the shot then returned to the car and left the scene."

Parramatta rugby league club CEO Denis Fitzgerald said his club was this morning trying to locate Hayne.

"We've obviously heard the reports but have been unable to contact Jarryd Hayne so we are none the wiser in regard to that at this stage," he said.

"We are trying to locate him and others."

Asked if he knew the identity of other players caught up in the incident, Mr Fitzgerald said: "I've heard inside the club that there was an incident and that the other player, but this is not official, is a player from another club - it was Mark Gasnier."

Mr Fitzgerald told Macquarie Radio Parramatta players had earlier been at the cricket but the majority of them had gone home about midnight.
"A few of them decided to go further and go to a nightclub at Kings Cross, and that's a real worry when this incident happened at in the vicinity of 4 o'clock," he said.

Earlier St George-Illawarra CEO Peter Doust said he was not yet in a position to comment on the incident, refusing to say if he had been in contact with Gasnier, before this afternoon's clarification.
The news of Hayne being caught up in a shooting broke after Sapphire Suite nightclub manager Charlie Saleh, was wounded and rushed to hospital when fired upon from a moving car at about 8.40pm.

Were you there or do you have any details of either incident? Contact us via the feedback form below or by phone on 02 9288 3413.

whats the go here? has anyone heard more on this? :|

 

[Foordy]

All i know is that Gasnier has been fined... but he kept the Dragons captaincy

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,865 ... 14,00.html

 

[Kee]

Death threats a concern to many players. :twisted: Sport does not warrant this sort of thing in our country :(

 

[Major JW Hochstetter]

Mason, Riddell receive death threats
Brent Read and Margie McDonald | March 05, 2008

NRL stars Willie Mason and Mark Riddell were the subject of death threats yesterday as another day of drama in the game ended on an alarming note.

Police last night confirmed they were investigating a phone call made to News Limited's Surry Hills offices about midday which threatened the stars.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... 22,00.html

 

[Foordy]

it seems like Parra will be dropping Hayne for the first round because of the incident

ERRANT Parramatta Eels player Jarryd Hayne is set to be dumped for the opening NRL match against the Bulldogs after his involvement in a shooting incident in Kings Cross.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,865 ... 14,00.html

 

[Flutterby]

I don't know how true this is, but I heard that Hayne was involved in a street fight about an hour or 2 earlier and the shooting may have been linked to that (ie the other guy involved went to get a gun and came back to track him down)

 

[Emma]

Apparently some guy had a go at Gasnier in a nightclub. Gaz did the smart thing (possibly for the first time in his life!) and simply left, got in a cab and went home. A while later Hayne and the other Parra guys saw this guy in Macca's and decided to have a bit of a go at him. This guy then left and came back with a gun.

 

[mick]

Nothing really makes much sense to be honest.

What WAS the involvement by these players? Seems like the clubs are getting all happy sacky with it all.

Probably not exactly related to the incident as much as it is that they're getting on the turps at Kings Cross at 4am just two weeks out from the start of the season. Hayne a repeat offender, too.

 

[Jeba]

Anyone watch The Right Odds on TVN? Duncan McRae tipped Parramatta to win the comp and said to Richard Callendar "I think they're pretty much bullet-proof this year Rich" :lol:

 

[Dave]

Seems to be a lot stronger link with these sorts of incidents and sports stars recently. There is a great article in the Courier Mail magazine this week (sorry - can't find the link) on Johnathan Thurston and he comments on the number of times he is approached by drug dealers these days. Over the last few years we have seen Wayne Carey have ties with the Moran family in Melbourne and the West Coast boys and their lonks to underworld figures in WA.

These blokes are young, have plenty of cash and abviously love a good night out. Surely they could put their heads together and identify places to go where they would not be subjected to interaction that leads to incidents like this one?

 

[mick]

And surely you can still "go out and have fun" until 11 or 12 or something similar.

4am in a dodgy area attracts trouble for the average joe, let alone recognisable footy stars. Stupid kids, really.

 

[trigrhappi]

Don't you hate assholes who carry guns but can't shoot straight...