By Marcus Uhe
Police are investigating a fatal shooting in Cranbourne on Wednesday night 29 June.
Homicide Squad detectives arrested a 49-year-old man from Cranbourne on Thursday morning, 30 June after emergency services were called to Lecky Street on Wednesday night around 8pm, following reports of several gunshots being heard outside the property.
Police attended and located a man deceased in the street, who is yet to be identified.
Several occupants of the property in question were spoken to by police, Homicide Inspector Dean Thomas said on Thursday 30 June.
The arrested man is in custody and assisting police with their enquiries.
“Other occupants of the address have been spoken to, and they are also assisting us try and piece together what has occurred,” Mr Thomas said.
“We’re working on the premise that (the deceased) may know the occupants of the property, but again it is early in the investigation and we’re working to try and piece all of that together.
“At this stage the identity of the deceased has not been confirmed and we’re still trying to identify that particular male.”
A firearm has not been located but Mr Thomas said the crime scene is still being examined.
A “verbal altercation” involving the occupants earlier in the day is of interest to police.
“We do believe that the two males attended the address several hours prior to this incident and obviously a male returned shortly after eight o’clock,” Mr Thomas said.
“We’re working to piece together, whether that was one of them that was there earlier, to see whether that’s linked, because there was a verbal altercation with occupants of the property earlier in the piece. We’re certainly working towards that.
“It appears to be very much isolated towards that particular address and those people, but again, we’re just working through that.”
Police believe the male who returned after 8pm may have been armed with a shovel, but could not confirm.
The shooting follows a series of gun-related crimes in Melbourne recently, including a shooting in Epping in Melbourne’s North on Tuesday night.
Mr Thomas said police do not believe the incident in Cranbourne is linked “to any other broader organised crime groups.”
He took the opportunity to call on members of the community to show “leadership and responsibility” if they are aware of anyone possessing a firearm that should not, by contacting Crime Stoppers.
“They can do that anonymously and their identity will never be known.
“But we do really very much on information from the public to assist us to focus on these individuals.
“We have out illicit firearms squad that’s been set up and is working very hard in relation to identifying people with illicit firearms.
“Yes it is a concern, but I can assure the community that Victoria police are working very hard to identify people that have access to these firearms and hold them responsible for the crimes they commit.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident or with dashcam footage or CCTV is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
