A security guard has died after being shot in the face in a drive-by shooting at a nightclub in Australia.
Police say four people were shot outside Love Machine nightclub on Sunday morning near Little Chapel Street and Malvern Road in Melbourne’s south-east.
A 37-year-old security guard from Narre Warren South was one of the men shot. He was rushed to hospital with life threatening injuries and has since died.
The drive-by shooting took place about 3.05am in a stolen black Porsche Cayenne. The car was later found burnt out in Wollert in the city’s north.
The victims include security guards and a patron. The 37-year-old security guard died and another 28-year-old man is in a critical condition. A 50-year-old man and a 29-year-old man sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Blood can be seen on the footpath more than 100 metres from the nightclub. Clothes and bullet casings are also scattered on the ground.
No arrests have been made.
Detectives are expected to investigate links to an outlaw motorcycle gang which has made extortion attempts on the nightclub.
A security guard from Love Machine said the music inside the R&B nightclub was so loud that patrons and staff inside had no idea anything was occurring outside during the shooting.
Chapel Street is home to a number of popular nightclubs and the shooting on Sunday occurred while many people were still out.
One woman posted to social media to let her family and friends know she was safe after she witnessed the shooting.
“There was a shooting right in front of us at Love Machine while we were standing across the road … so please if anyone is out at clubs please go home now,” she said on Facebook.
“We are all in shock but we are all okay and back at the apartment safe.”
Malvern Road remains closed between Chapel Street and Surrey Road as forensic officers collect the clothes and bullet casings left outside the club.
Three officers have searched the drains outside the entrance to the club, pulling up the grate to photograph the area below.
Sarah Guest, who lives a block away from the scene, said she wasn’t shocked, given all the drug use she had witnessed in the area.
“I’m not super surprised … walking to work one day I reckon I saw 10 or 15 syringes in the one gutter,” she said.
Edie, who lives in the nearby commission flats, says she didn’t hear anything when the shooting occurred.
“I think they should be stricter on the gun laws,” she said. “There is a bit of trouble around here, but it’s usually fighting and stabbings.
“It’s scary because it’s right on your doorstep – it could have happened to one of us.”
March was the deadliest month for shootings in Victoria in a decade, figures from the Coroners Court of Victoria show.
Five people were killed in Melbourne in four unconnected shootings in less than a fortnight.
Police are urging people to avoid the area. Anyone with information or footage of the incident can contact Crime Stoppers.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/112029090/four-hit-one-reportedly-dead-in-australian-driveby-shooting