A man has been shot dead in a daylight attack near a kindergarten in Melbourne’s outer north.
The unnamed victim, 22, is suspected of being linked to the daylight gangland execution of underworld figure Sam ‘The Punisher’ Abdulrahim.
Detectives admitted the murder appeared to be ‘very deliberate and obviously targeted’ and the victim was ‘known’ to them.
Abdulrahim was gunned down by a team of assassins on January 28 in the underground car park at Preston’s Quest Hotel in Melbourne’s north.
The champion kickboxer had been a key player in Melbourne’s ongoing ‘tobacco wars’, which has seen shops around the state torched in a deadly turf war.
A crime scene has been established on Champions Parade in Wollert, in Melbourne’s north, following the fatal shooting.
Top homicide squad cop Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said police believed there was a confrontation between two men in Game Lane, a laneway behind Champions Parade just before 9am.
The gunman shot and killed the man in the laneway before fleeing in a vehicle.
Sam ‘The Punisher’ Abdulrahim was murdered in January
The Quest Hotel where The Punisher died
‘We also have reports of a vehicle being found burnt out in Amery Street in Reservoir. Det Insp Thomas told reporters.
‘We don’t know if that is linked to this particular incident this morning. We will work now to piece together what has gone on to identify those responsible.’
The top detective said police had not yet formally identified the man who was killed, but believed he was known to police.
Independent journalist Ryan Naumenko’s news site Outlaw Media was quick to label the alleged murder a gangland hit.
‘The young man murdered this morning at 9am is suspected of being the killer of Sam … Abdulrahim,’ he wrote.
‘Sam’s murder was a blessing. If the information I have is right … this will be bigger than World War 3.’
Naumenko had personally been targeted by Abdulrahim before the gangster was gunned down in his car.
No-one has been charged for his murder, amid fears the gunmen may have already fled overseas.
More to come.
