Murder charge dropped over alleged road rage shooting

A man charged over the fatal road rage shooting of a Gold Coast father on Australia Day has had his murder charge dropped.

Paul Younan was charged in 2022 over the killing of 32-year-old Omega Ruston in Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast on January 26, 2009.

Magistrate Belinda Merrin dismissed the murder charge against Younan during a mention of his case in Brisbane on Monday.

Prosecutors had offered no evidence for the charge.

Younan still faces 27 counts of alleged perjury.

"It was determined on the admissible evidence currently available, the prosecution does not have any reasonable prospects of conviction," a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said in a statement.

Ruston was travelling along the Gold Coast Highway in his white 2001 Holden Rodeo ute when he was shot dead in a suspected road rage incident about 10.25pm.

The Coroners Court of Queensland continues to investigate the death but could not confirm any future hearings.

"No decision regarding an inquest has been made," a spokesperson said.

Younan's perjury charges will return to court on October 12.

Younan was the last of three men left facing a murder charge over Ruston's death prior to Monday's court mention.

Murder and accessory after the fact charges against two men were discontinued in Brisbane Magistrates Court in October 2025.