Four gunmen are still on the run after yesterday's shocking daylight shooting at a busy shopping centre in Melbourne's outer north. Police have confirmed the targeted attack outside Craigieburn Central that left one man dead and another badly injured is linked to Melbourne's criminal underworld.
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00:00 Tributes laid for Robert Issa in the packed car park where masked gunmen opened fire 24
00:07 hours earlier. The 27-year-old died and a 28-year-old was injured when the men peppered
00:12 their Mercedes with bullets. Scores of horrified onlookers thankful they escaped the crossfire.
00:18 We could see the deceased on the ground with the white sheet covering him.
00:23 I acknowledge this is a particularly serious and concerning incident.
00:26 No doubt for the people who witnessed this awful event will be provided with the support
00:32 they need.
00:33 Four men fled the scene in a black Range Rover later found torched 14 kilometres away in
00:38 West Meadows. A second getaway vehicle, a blue Toyota, was dumped in reservoir having
00:44 suffered the same fate.
00:46 At the car park crime scene, the dead 27-year-old's distraught family held vigil long into the
00:51 night.
00:54 Police today confirmed the men had underworld connections, but they're still working to
00:58 determine if the shooting is linked to a string of arson attacks on tobacco stores across
01:03 Melbourne, most recently in Bentley yesterday morning. A multi-agency task force has been
01:08 established to tackle the illicit tobacco trade by two competing crime syndicates.
01:14 Police believe the syndicates are comprised of personnel from the Middle Eastern organised
01:18 crime groups and also involve outlaw motorcycle gangs.
01:22 This is the second gangland execution to unfold in broad daylight, metres from the public,
01:27 in the space of a few weeks after the shooting of crime figure Gavin Preston last month.
01:32 Police say they don't believe the two shootings are related and they insist the community
01:36 is safe. They're also confident they'll be able to make arrests related to both incidents
01:40 soon.
01:41 We're tackling this issue from all sides and we've got a very, very strong response.
01:47 The government needs to tell Victorians how it proposes to invest in the police that we
01:52 desperately need.
01:53 We've already strengthened a range of powers for Victoria Police.
01:57 Authorities say a non-fatal shooting targeting a home in Craigieburn last month is linked
02:02 to this latest deadly assault.
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