A teenager gunned down following a violent brawl at a popular beach has been identified as his killer remains on the run.
Emergency services were called to the Bar Beach car park on Memorial Drive in Newcastle in the NSW Hunter region about 11.40pm on Wednesday.
Ekampreet Sahni, 18, was found at the scene suffering a gunshot wound to his upper torso and died at the scene.
Police sources told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Sahni had been at the carpark with two females when the women called three male friends to join them.
When the men arrived, an altercation then broke out.
A white Volvo SUV with three men arrived at the scene minutes later.
It’s understood two men jumped out of the vehicle and made threats before shots were fired at Mr Sahni at point blank range before the car fled the scene.
Police believe the firearm was either a pump action shotgun or high-powered rifle.
The torched vehicle was found 13km away in Tingira Heights 20 minutes later.
Crime scenes were established at both locations.
Police don’t believe the drive-by shooting was linked to the earlier altercation.
‘We don’t believe the fight was organised, and we don’t believe that this incident is related to that earlier fight at the car park,’ Acting Superintendent Steve Benson said.
‘I will say the investigation is in its infancy, so we’re looking at all lines of inquiry and all possibilities.’
‘It is a senseless crime and one that I hope the community will not stand for, and neither do we as police.’
Supt Benson said police had devoted a ‘large number of resources’ to the investigation and were ‘working to establish’ whether Mr Sahni was known to his killers.
‘It’s only a number of hours into the investigation and we’re yet to establish a motive,’ he said.
Mr Sahni has been remembered as a car loving teen.
NSW Police Minister and local MP Yasmin Catley vowed to ‘throw every resource’ at the investigation.
‘This sort of violence is not what we ever want to see on our streets and we are not used to seeing it on our streets,’ she said.
‘Police have stood up a strike force immediately and we will be throwing every resource at… making sure we find the perpetrator of this horrible incident we have experienced.
Anyone with relevant information or dashcam vision of the incident is urged to contact Newcastle Police or Crime Stoppers.