A hero gone too soon: Joshua MacDonald made the ultimate sacrifice to carry out an extraordinary act of courage in his final moments
The devastated family of Joshua MacDonald, the innocent man gunned down in a Merrylands West driveway, has revealed he put his body on the line to save his best mate and two young girls.
The 40-year-old electrician was shot dead outside his friend’s place at Merrylands West on Wednesday afternoon after spending his day off at a trade show.
“It was murder. Cold-blooded murder,” his aunt Darlene Norton told 7NEWS.
Norton and her husband Trevor, who are Joshua’s next-of-kin, say they are comforted by knowing he died a hero.
His best friend and business partner Nick Brown told them how Joshua shielded his two young daughters who had just arrived home from school when the gunman began firing.
“He saved my children’s lives and I am forever grateful for this beautiful soul. He is my children’s and my own guardian angel,” Norton said Brown told her in a text.
“That’s Joshua all over. If he’d known those kids were in danger, anyone was in danger, he’d put himself in front,” Norton said.
Just three days before his death, Norton had sent her nephew a birthday message on Sunday morning, never imagining it would be the last.
“Happy birthday, Josh. Hope you have a wonderful day. Love you. See you on the 13th of September. Kiss, kiss, kiss,” she wrote.
His reply was simple: “Thank you. Can’t wait.”
“That’s it. That’s it,” Norton said.
When Norton heard the news, she didn’t believe it was her nephew.
“I thought it was another Joshua. And then I picked up my phone and just missed calls for the night,” she said.
The family has described Joshua as hardworking and kind-hearted, saying he should still be alive.
But they want police at the front of Sydney’s gang crisis, questioning why more wasn’t done to prevent the tragedy.
When asked if NSW Police are doing enough, Norton said: “No, they could be doing so much more. So much more.”
“Their car was sitting there for 90 minutes. If they already knew that these people next door were being targeted, they had a target on their shoulders. Why weren’t they patrolling those streets?”
Police Minister Yasmin Catley yesterday insisted she had the situation in hand.
“I do not accept that this is out of control,” she said.
Her comment has left Joshua’s family reeling.
“If it had happened to one of her family, if it’s happening to any of their family members, I’m sure they’d change their mind. But of course it’s not happening to any of theirs. It’s all us poor families,” Norton said.
The shooting comes just days after Marco Tapia, a 23-year-old biomedical student, was killed at his Glen Alpine home on Monday when gunmen stormed in looking for someone else.
“I thought that poor family of that poor boy was so innocent. And I thought, no, it could never be us,” Norton said.
Police have vowed to saturate the city’s south-west with every available resource, including general duties and highway patrol officers, as well as detectives from specialist squads such as Strike Force Falcon who are dedicated to investigating the gangland feud.
Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the heavy police presence would both reassure the community but also send a strong message to anyone planning on committing a crime.
Police are also asking for the public’s help, urging anyone who sees suspicious activity to call triple-0 immediately.
SOURCE: 7 NEWS
https://7news.com.au/news/crime/family-reveals-final-selfless-act-of-innocent-man-gunned-down-in-merrylands-west-driveway-c-22826298
