Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Leitch has put out a fresh appeal for information, after no luck tracking down the offender two days after the brazen daytime attack.
He said the gunman, wearing a balaclava and carrying a shotgun, approached the victim’s flat about 3.30pm.
“An altercation of some kind has happened and the victim has run off. The suspect, we believe, has chased him down a hallway and then discharged a shotgun down the balcony towards the victim.”
The victim was not struck and managed to flee down to level two of the building, where he jumped off the exterior stairs.
He remains in hospital but is not seriously injured, Leitch said.
“We don’t know much about them,” Leitch said of the shooter. “We haven’t uncovered anyone that’s observed the offender at this point in time.”
Police have spoken to many of the building’s residents who are “pretty upset about what’s happened”.
“I’m desperate for anyone that saw him to contact us, so that we can talk to them about what they’ve seen,” he said.
“The victim was at extreme risk of serious harm... but the residents of that block of flats, any one of them could have inadvertently walked into the line of fire, so it’s really fortunate that we’re not dealing with something more serious.”
Leitch would not say if it was believed to be gang-related, but confirmed it was a “targeted incident” and not a random attack.
“We’re still really trying to get to the bottom of why this happened,” he said.
Members of the public with information are being urged to contact police via 105 and use the reference number 251102/6491.
You can also report information anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
