A 42-year-old man has been shot dead outside his home in Wollert, Melbourne, with homicide detectives investigating whether the killing was targeted.
Emergency services were called to Gypsum Drive in the city’s northern outskirts at about 5.30pm on Thursday after reports of gunshots. Officers found the man dead at the property with injuries consistent with a shooting.
Police said the man had not yet been formally identified and that his death was being treated as suspicious. No arrests have been made.
Footage released after the Melbourne shooting appeared to show two men running from the scene before leaving in a Holden Commodore sedan. Separate CCTV audio captured a woman screaming after finding the victim outside the property.
Residents described being shocked by the incident. One said an event of this kind had “never happened before” and that residents had been unable to sleep throughout the night.
Another neighbour said: “It was horrible and I could see some children witnessing the incident, and I think it’s really bad for them.”
The dead man is understood to have been an associate of former Melbourne underworld figure Kazem “Kaz” Hamad, according to Ryan Naumenko.
Hamad was deported from Australia to Iraq in 2023. He was accused of being a key figure behind Melbourne’s tobacco wars, which were allegedly linked to a series of firebombings as rival groups fought for control of the illicit tobacco market.
Iraq’s National Center for International Judicial Cooperation said Hamad was found guilty in July of importing drugs into Iraq and Australia. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Karkh Criminal Court in Baghdad.
Detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the shooting. Anyone with information has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
