- Father shot while trying to protect daughter
- She believes a man was following home at midnight
A father is in a coma after being shot by a man he believed was following his daughter late at night.
Blessing Valla, 21, called her father about 12.25am on Monday, saying she believed an unknown man in a white station wagon was trailing her car in Melbourne’s south-east, according to police.
Victor Valla, 58, told his daughter to return home in Cranbourne East, where he waited for her at the front.
When she pulled up to the house five minutes later, the station wagon also stopped.
Mr Valla approached the car and became involved in an altercation with the driver.
The man got out of the vehicle and pushed Mr Valla before pulling out a handgun and shooting him in the abdomen.
He then fled the scene as neighbours rushed to Mr Valla’s aid.
Blessing stayed by her father’s side until he was rushed to hospital, where he remains in a critical but stable condition.
Victor Valla, 58, was allegedly trying to protect his daughter when he was shot in the abdomen
Blessing Valla, 21, was driving home at midnight when noticed a car following behind her
‘She was saying, ‘Dad, Dad, don’t go’. My daughter was left holding her dad’s hand,’ Mr Valla’s ex-wife Cecilia told reporters.
‘She [told me], ‘Dad almost lost his life for me’, it’s crazy, it was a young boy with the gun.’
It’s understood that Mr Valla has lost a kidney and will undergo surgery on Tuesday.
Police are treating the incident as a random attack.
No connection has been established between Mr Valla or his daughter and the gunman- who remains on the run.
‘When a man just comes out to protect his daughter – to be shot in the street is distressing,’ Detective Acting Superintendent Mick Daly told reporters on Monday.
The shooting was captured on CCTV before the gunmen fled the scene in the white station wagon
‘We don’t know why she was targeted herself and why the offender shot the father.
‘It’s very concerning, firearms in the community is a concern.’
Detectives are ramping up their investigation in the area, and spent Monday afternoon canvassing CCTV and talking to locals.
Police would also like to speak with anyone from the area who may have CCTV or dash-cam footage.
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