A major crime scene was declared in Melbourne’s west on Friday night after a man was shot in a suspected underworld hit outside a kebab shop.
The Australian obtained CCTV footage showing the moment a silver Kia SUV pulled up outside the business at Borrack Square in Altona North about 7.15pm (AEST).
The footage shows the vehicle stopping before seven shots were fired towards the shop, before the SUV then sped from the scene.
Two men, one of them believed to be an associate of crime boss Fadi Haddara, were seen sitting down at a shisha bar before it was peppered with bullets. The man was wounded and rushed to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the drive-by shooting, with officers told the gunmen fled the area afterwards.
A police helicopter was still hovering overhead about 9.30pm.
A large Victoria Police contingent, including uniformed officers and plainclothes detectives, was seen at the scene by The Australian late on Friday night.
Most of Borrack Square was closed off as police gathered forensic evidence.
Bullet holes and shattered glass could be seen at the shisha and coffee bar at the centre of the incident. No arrests had been made late on Friday night.
The shooting is the third gun incident reported at Borrack Square this year.
Friday night’s shooting comes only four days after Haddara was shot three times in his upper body outside his home in Altona, about 2km from the latest incident. He remains in hospital recovering from his injuries
Haddara has been a major player in Melbourne’s tobacco wars and is considered to be a gangland rival of exiled crime boss Kazem Hamad, who is serving a life jail sentence in Iraq.
Mohammad AlfaresJournalist