Hampton Park: Shocking new footage reveals the terrifying volley of shots before innocent father-to-be was gunned down in a suspected case of mistaken identity – as his parents brand their son’s evil killers ‘cowards’

Detectives have released dramatic footage captured moments before an innocent man was shot dead in a suspected drive-by shooting.

Future father and brother-in-law Aaron Toth, 30, was found with a fatal gunshot wound inside a Volkswagen Golf on Bride Avenue near Hampton Park, in Melbourne’s south-east, just after midnight on Saturday, April 27.

On Monday, his parents went to the media to label his killers as cowards.

“They left him like cowards, they left him to die on the side of the road,” said Kim, Mr. Toth’s mother.

‘There must be someone who knows something. He didn’t deserve to die like that, nobody deserves that.’

Detectives believe the carpenter’s death was the result of a tragic mistake.

He had just returned from Melbourne’s business district when he was shot in his car.

His killers fled in a stolen Ford Ranger, which was found burned out at 2.30am in Sweeny Reserve in Berwick, about 9km from the scene of the shooting.

Aaron Toth was pronounced dead at the scene as Victoria Police investigate (pictured are officers at the scene)

Homicide detectives have released CCTV footage of a number of incidents involving shots being fired in Hampton Park in the lead up to the tragedy.

In the first incident, a stolen black Audi Q7 SUV, a black Volkswagen Golf GTI hatchback and a white Toyota Camry sedan were spotted speeding on the Parkway in Hampton Park at 9:21 p.m. on Friday, April 26.

The black Volkswagen was seen driving onto the grassland. Two gunshots were heard, after which the three vehicles drove away at high speed.

At 10.50pm CCTV captured a stolen white Mitsubishi Outlander SUV chasing a stolen black Audi Q7 through Andrew Street, David Street and Jeffrey Street in Hampton Park.

As the vehicles drove at a high rate of speed on Jeffrey Street, security camera footage showed a person leaning out of the passenger window of the white Mitsubishi Outlander and firing a shot as the car followed the black Audi Q7.

14 gunshots were heard.

At 11:36 p.m., the black Audi Q7 pulled into the driveway of a residential home on Grammar Way in Hampton Park.

Two men, both dressed in light trousers and hoods, got out of the vehicle with jerry cans in their hands.

Both men emptied the jerry cans over the Audi, set it on fire and fled in a dark sedan that was waiting nearby.

That vehicle has not yet been identified.

Mr. Toth was shot at 12:24 a.m. Saturday in his car parked in front of a house on Bride Avenue in Hampton Park.

Investigators determined he had travelled alone from Melbourne’s CBD and had only arrived at the address a minute earlier.

He was not involved in the previous incidents in the Hampton Park neighborhood and his death is being treated as a case of mistaken identity.

CCTV has captured a stolen grey Ford Ranger vehicle turning left from Pound Road onto Bride Avenue and then travelling south on Bride Avenue.

The occupants of the vehicle shot at his vehicle as they drove past, fatally wounding him.

A 21-year-old man from Cranbourne North was charged with murder in June.

Police have recovered this burnt-out wreckage, believed to have been used in the alleged murder

Another vehicle seized by police in connection with the shooting

One of the destroyed vehicles

At 02:27 the white Mitsubishi Outlander and the grey Ford Ranger were travelling in convoy to Sweeney Reserve, Berwick.

The Ford Ranger was set on fire and the Mitsubishi Outlander was used to escape.

Investigators believe all of the incidents are connected and that there are still people involved who have not yet been identified.

The only vehicle that has not yet been found is the black Volkswagen Golf GTI hatchback.

Police are asking anyone who knows who is involved in the case or where the black Golf is located to come forward and talk to police or file an anonymous report through Crime Stoppers.