A 35-year-old Arou­ca man was shot dead in front of his son dur­ing an ear­ly-morn­ing at­tack yes­ter­day, push­ing the mur­der toll for the year to 20 in the first sev­en days of the new year.Around 7.45 am, Hezeki­ah Mark, of Hillview Dri­ve, Five Rivers, Arou­ca, was in his kitchen prepar­ing break­fast for his ten-year-old son, when two men came in through the front door.Po­lice said the men drew guns and shot Mark sev­er­al times be­fore run­ning away through the back door.

Po­lice said a dazed Mark still man­aged to grab a knife and chased the gun­men. He col­lapsed af­ter run­ning a short dis­tance and fell in­to a drain, where he died of his wounds.Mark's son was not in­jured in the in­ci­dent.Homi­cide de­tec­tives said Mark was not known to po­lice and a mo­tive for his mur­der is yet to be de­ter­mined.Se­nior Supt John Daniel and de­tec­tives of the Re­gion Two Homi­cide Bu­reau are prob­ing Mark's mur­der.