Man shot in head walked into shop after climbing out of grave - now he's in jail

A man who stumbled into a petrol station with a bullet lodged in his brain having just dug himself out of his own grave is now behind bars.

The 23-year-old, who is yet to be named, survived an assassination attempt in Queensland, Australia, after being left to die in the hole, said police, who described his recovery as “miracle”. He arrived at the service station and begged shocked staff not to call emergency services, the force said. An employee who came to the man’s aid said he had severe facial injuries, including his eye socket. The anonymous worker continued: “He came and asked for a taxi and I said, ‘Are you sure you don't want an ambulance?’ But he said, ‘No please, no ambulance.’”

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A staff member told 9News that the man went into the bathroom for a short period, where he appeared to change his mind about the ambulance. They said: "He kept repeating 'I'm gonna die, I'm gonne die'. I didn't know who was following him. I didn't know if they were going to come hurt us."

CCTV footage captured the man slumped over before he was taken to hospital – against his wishes – where the bullet was removed from his brain. According to News.com.au, the unidentified man is now serving time in prison for unrelated matters. Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi said the man survived against all odds.

“He was buried in a shallow grave,” Mr Doueihi said. “Unbeknown to the offenders, who believed he was deceased, the male crawled out of the grave.” The officer said the man had been lured over state borders by the gang, “not knowing what their ulterior motive was”.

The day before the shooting, a white Hyundai Getz was captured on CCTV in New South Wales at around 5.30am, local reports state. What is understood to be four male passengers – one believed to be the victim – were seen in the footage, suggesting the man had been picked up.

“We will allege that this syndicate that's responsible for these three offences are linked to a Victorian drug trafficking syndicate,” added Doueihi. “We do believe that this particular crew, or crews, were contracted to conduct these activities. We do not believe that they are offshore. We believe they are still within the country.”

He added: “But they are talking to us, to a certain extent. The investigation remained somewhat covert for a period of time in order to progress the investigation to where we are now. It wasn't an appropriate time back in July last year to release this information. We are at a stage now where we’re happy to release the information.”

Experienced forensic pathologist Professor Johan Duflou said he was stunned by the man's story. “It’s absolutely good luck on his part. Or if you like – bad luck on being there in the first instance, good luck in surviving,” he told news.com.au the next day. “I think if it happened in the movies, you’d think it was far-fetched.”

Professor Roger Byard, from the University of Adelaide, feels it is a “common misconception” that shots to the head were instantly fatal. “There were soldiers in war who discovered they were shot in the head when they took their helmet off and saw a hole in it,” he said.

“People have actually shot off a large part of their brain with shotguns," the expert went on to tell the Australian publication. "But if you don’t damage blood vessels or vital structures like the brain, that controls breathing and heart rate, then you can survive for quite a long time."