Landsdale shooting: Heartbroken parents of Ralph William Matthews Cox say killer had wrong man

Police are investigating whether a man who was shot dead on his front doorstep in Landsdale had been murdered as a result of mistaken identity, as the victim’s parents reveal their son’s last moments. Ralph William Matthews Cox died at Royal Perth Hospital on Wednesday morning following the deadly shooting on Montacute Turn about 2am. The West Australian understands police are probing whether the hit was intended for a different person, with two other drive-by shootings in Perth’s north-eastern suburbs this month being investigated as potentially linked to the murder. Mr Matthews Cox’s parents Michelle and Andrew said the 47-year-old had left behind two daughters in Broome and two stepsons, who had been inside the Landsdale house during the shooting. “He had moved to Perth to start a new life with his partner and her kids and now he’s gone,” Mrs Cox said. “All because someone thought he was someone else.” She said on the night of her son’s death, his partner was woken up by a noise from outside the house. “She yelled and asked if anyone was outside and then she opened the window and saw a gun,” Mrs Cox said. “So she screamed ‘Ralph’ and he got up and went straight to the door. “That’s when they fired two shots — one missed him but the second got him in the heart.” Mr Cox told The West Australian his son was a FIFO worker and had recently finished building his own home. “Ralph was a solid, good man,” he said. “They got the wrong person.” The heartbroken parents attended the murder scene to lay flowers on Thursday. The pair broke down when they saw where paramedics worked to save Mr Matthews Cox’s life, with gloves, medical equipment and a large towel strewn across the front entrance. It comes after Det-Insp. Quentin Flatman on Wednesday said the shooting was “tragic in the extreme” but stressed public safety was not at risk. “No one should ever be confronted with being in their own home at night-time asleep and be faced with this sort of event,” he said. The alleged shooter, who detectives believe may be associated with an outlaw motorcycle gang, was still on the run on Thursday. Police said the fatal shooting was believed to be “targeted” but did not reveal if they had determined a motive, saying they were still pursuing several leads. The fatal shooting — the first in metropolitan Perth since the 2020 assassination of Nick Martin at the Perth Motorplex in Kwinana — is understood to potentially be connected to two other drive-by shootings. The first of the two January 4 incidents unfolded in Girrawheen, when a home on Montrose Avenue was fired upon at about 1am. The second came two hours later at 3.10am, when another property, this time on Wanneroo Road in Wanneroo, was shot up. No one was injured in the back-to-back shootings, with the residents inside the homes telling The West Australian at the time that they believed it was a case of “mistaken identity”.