Gunman on the run after brazen late-night shooting
A man believed to be linked to the city’s ongoing tobacco war is in hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and a gunman is on the run following a brazen late-night shooting in Melbourne’s west.
Emergency services were called to a cafe in Borrack Square in North Altoona at around 11.30pm on Tuesday following reports that someone had been shot.
When police arrived, they said they found a 49-year-old man who had been shot twice in the arm. The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital where he remained.
Police said a silver Toyota Hilux, stolen from an address in Newport last month, stopped outside the cafe on Tuesday night before someone inside the vehicle opened fire on “a crowd drinking coffee and socialising”.
Detective Inspector Graham Banks, from the gang crime squad, urged anyone with information about the attack to contact police on Wednesday.
“At this stage we believe there is likely a link to the illicit tobacco dispute which has been ongoing for several years,” he said.
The Hilux was later found burned out just before 3 a.m. in North Altoona.
Police have not said whether the man who was shot was the only intended victim or even the target.
“When this happened, it’s impossible to say for sure that any one person was targeted. It could have been a random shooting into that crowd to send a message, or it could have been a targeted attack on that person or someone else, and that person could have been injured as a result,” Banks said.
“At this stage we’re not ruling out anything about what the motive might be, whether it’s the people there or the location itself.”
Speaking about the possible link to the illegal tobacco trade, he said: “The conflict we are seeing now is random acts of violence against perceived opponents, often irrelevant whether those people were in the building at the time.
“This is outrageous, but unfortunately this is the kind of conflict we see in this area.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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