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Four men are on the run after a targeted shooting in a shopping centre car park in Melbourne’s north that left one man dead and another with serious injuries.
The balaclava-clad group approached the victims’ white Mercedes just before 3pm on Saturday, firing multiple gunshots at the passenger side and rear windows as horrified shoppers watched on.
A 27-year-old man from Craigieburn was killed in the shooting. A 28-year-old man from Hadfield was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Neither man has been identified.
Three underworld sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Age that the shooting was linked to a string of tobacco shop firebombings believed to be part of a turf war between organised criminals.
Victoria Police said two men were sitting inside the car in the Craigieburn Central shopping centre car park on Windrock Avenue when the shooting occurred.
Police said the offenders fled in a black Range Rover Sport. It was later found torched in Westmeadows, about 12 kilometres south of the shooting site.
People talking to police at the scene of the shooting.Credit: Luis Ascui
“It’s believed four males fled from that vehicle and are yet to be located at this stage,” police said in a statement on Saturday evening.
“Investigators are still working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident, however at this early stage the incident appears to be targeted.”
A group of people, including some crying in distress, huddled together at the crime scene hours after dark on Saturday night.
Some had to be restrained at times as they clashed with police while trying to get closer to the bullet-riddled car and a white sheet covering a figure on the ground beside it.
In August, this masthead revealed Middle Eastern crime gangs and outlaw motorcycle clubs were among those warring for control of a lucrative racket extorting tobacco shops and torching those who didn’t sell their illegal tobacco.
Underworld figure Gavin “Capable” Preston was shot dead at a cafe in Keilor in another targeted attack in broad daylight last month. Abbas Jr “AJ” Maghnie, the son of late underworld enforcer Nabil Maghnie, was also seriously injured in the shooting, which sparked fears of a new gangland war.
Preston had attempted to muscle in on the lucrative extortion racket being waged against Melbourne’s tobacco retailers that has involved more than a dozen firebombings since rival organised crime gangs began fighting over the tobacco trade earlier this year.
A large police presence guarded the Craigieburn crime scene on Saturday evening as detectives began their investigation.
One witness, who did not want to be identified, told The Age they saw a group of several men wearing balaclavas jump out of a car before gunshots rang out.
“They all got out of the car and I heard gunshots,” they said. “They were all wearing balaclavas. [The gunshots] stopped and they sped off. I had to swerve so my car didn’t get hit.”
The witness said they saw blood on the neck of the seriously injured victim, who was taken to hospital. The incident left them traumatised and upset, they said.
Another witness, who also did not want to be named, said: “I was just coming back from early voting and noticed a large crowd and cops and what seemed like bullet holes on a car’s window. They were asking us to move away and were closing off the area.”
Police at the scene of a shooting in Craigieburn on Saturday.Credit: Luis Ascui
Anyone who witnessed the incident or who has dashcam vision can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
With Sherryn Groch
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