General News
20 August, 2019
Nirranda man remembered
NIRRANDA’S Sean McKinnon was killed in a random shooting attack in New Zealand last week.
NIRRANDA’S Sean McKinnon was killed in a random shooting attack in New Zealand last week.
The incident occurred while he was sleeping in a campervan in Raglan, outside Hamilton, at about 3am.
Mr McKinnon’s Canadian fiancé Bianca Buckley was also in the van but managed to escape and raised the alarm.
The killer drove off in the campervan with his body inside and was found about 80 kilometres away.
The alleged 23 year-old killer faced the Hamilton District Court on Saturday morning charged with murder, aggravated robbery, threatening to kill and driving disqualified.
His identity was suppressed and he was remanded in custody to face another hearing in the country’s High Court on August 27.
Tributes have poured for Mr McKinnon, a renowned local surfer and loveable all round character.
Corangamite Shire councillor Simon Illingworth said he was a “laid back, popular, cruisy bloke, who didn’t give a toss about the latest ‘thing’”.
“He’d rip a wave to shreds and get tubed riding an old school single fin board when everyone else was scrambling for the latest model; he’d smile lots but never boasted. Not once,” Cr Illingworth said.
“Seany made you feel close to him, but in all honesty, there would have been a thousand people that felt close to him. Everyone loved Sean.
“Anyone who surfs 20 foot waves at Two Mile and tells you they’re not scared is lying; one exception was Seany.
“He was ridiculously gutsy. I never saw him pull back from a wave. Never. Honestly, I don’t think it didn’t even cross his mind. He was ‘that’ good.”