By STUART WOLEDGE

PUBLISHED: 11:02 EST, 19 August 2013 | UPDATED: 07:19 EST, 20 August 2013

• Promising baseball student gunned down after a visit to his sweetheart
• Suspected killers wanted to be 'Billy Bob Badasses,' says chief of police
• Tribute from heartbroken girlfriend says 'I love you so much babe'
• Flowers adorn the scene of the shooting that has left the town stunned

A promising Australian student, who was on a baseball scholarship in the United States, was allegedly gunned down by a gang of teenagers in what has been described as a 'senseless attack'.

Chris Lane was returning from a visit to his girlfriend's in the small town of Duncan in Oklahoma on Friday, when he was shot in the back by three teenagers and left to die in the gutter.

Chief of Duncan Police Department Danny Ford said the baseball fanatic, who was originally from Melbourne, was fired upon 'for the fun of it'.

Sweethearts: Sarah Harper has been left heartbroken after her boyfriend Chris Lane was gunned down in a senseless killing on Friday

The 23-year-old was out jogging after visiting his sweetheart Sarah Harper, who lives nearby.

Chief Ford said: 'He went by a residence where these three boys were, they picked him as a target, they went out and got in a vehicle and followed him.

'(They) came up from behind and basically shot him in the back with a small calibre weapon, then sped away.'

Witnesses saw him stumble across the road and collapse in the gutter.

According to police investigators, one of the alleged killers had left a chilling message on Facebook prior to the shooting.

It read: 'Bang. Two drops in two hours.'

The three suspects, aged 15, 16 and 17, have been arrested.

According to Sky News, the 16-year-old allegedly confessed to the killing saying it had been done 'for the fun of it'.

The three are due to face first degree murder charges, which carry a potential death penalty in Oklahoma.

Chief Ford added:'They wanted to be Billy Bob Badasses.

Promising student: Chris Lane and Sarah Harper had only just returned from a trip back to the 23-year-old's native Australia

'I think they were on a killing spree. We would have had more bodies that night if we didn't get them.'

Paramedics were quickly on the scene, but the student was pronounced dead an hour after the shooting.

The young couple, who started dating in 2009, had only been back in the US for three days after visiting Mr Lane's family in Melbourne.

Ms Harper posted an emotional tribute on Facebook, describing their time together as 'the most amazing of my life'.

Investigation: Police cordoned off the scene around the shooting on Friday while they conducted their investigation

She wrote: 'I love you so much babe. From 2009 until forever you will always be mine and in a very special and protected place in my heart.'

She later added: 'It's a very angry yet extremely sad time. No one deserves to die that way. Not even the boys involved.

'Don't get me wrong, I want them to rot in hell, but no one should be blindly taken from the back so unexpectedly and without any reason.'

The student's devastated father Peter said: 'There's not going to be any good come out of this because it was just so senseless.

'There wasn't anything he did or could have done. He was an athlete going for a jog like he would do five or six days a week in terms of his training schedule.

'To try and understand it is a short way to insanity.'

Smitten: The couple had been together since 2009. Sarah Harper described their time as 'the most amazing of my life'

According to the Herald Sun, the accused are being held in Stephens County Jail and are due to be charged today.

Chief Ford said one of the suspects had admitted to the killing, but refused to divulge who had pulled the trigger.

One of the alleged murderers is said to be white and the other two are black.

Mr Lane, 22, who grew up in the Oak Park area of Melbourne, was jogging through an expensive area of Duncan, when he was shot at the junction of Country Club Road and Twilight Beach Road.

A memorial of flowers has been left at the scene.

The murder has shocked residents - the town has had only one other murder the past five years.

The three boys were said to be travelling in a black Ford Focus with a white sticker in the front of the driver's windscreen.

A manhunt was launched after Mr Lane was gunned down, and the investigating officers received a breakthrough when a concerned parent phoned to say several youngsters had just threatened to kill her son.

Police quickly arrived at the scene and found a car matching the description of the one they were looking for in an adjacent church car park.

A shotgun was found in the car, although the handgun is still missing.

However, ammunition for the handgun was found under the bonnet and video surveillance footage showed the boys hiding a weapon in car's engine.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2397100/Australian-student-Chris-Lane-shot-dead-US-3-teenagers-fun-it.html#ixzz2cY2T8Pks

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