Police probing shot fired into Coolaroo business minutes after fatal Thomastown drive-by
A SHOT was fired into a Coolaroo business minutes after a fatal drive-by shooting at a house in Thomastown early on Tuesday morning.
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A SHOT was fired into a Coolaroo business minutes after a fatal drive-by shooting at a house in Thomastown early on Tuesday morning.
Victoria Police confirmed the shot was fired in Reservoir St, Coolaroo, at 4am.
Shots were fired at a house in Darebin Drive, Thomastown, killing Rachad Adra and wounding his four-year-old son, about 3.45am.
It is not yet clear whether there is any connection between the Adra family and the Coolaroo business, but police are investigating whether there is any link between the two shootings.
Mr Adra was not known to police. But another person at his home has been linked to a prominent Middle-Eastern crime figure awaiting trial for large-scale drug trafficking.
Earlier this month, another house in Darebin Drive was shot at in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity.
Senior police believe some of the recent spate of drive-by shootings are connected to conflict over the ice trade.
The homicide squad is investigating the Darebin Drive tragedy, in which bullets slammed through the wall of the bedroom where Mr Adra was sleeping with his wife and son.
He is not the first person in the northern suburbs to die in a drive-by ambush that may not have been intended to kill.
Saleh Dheibech was shot dead on January 27, 2010, in the front of his panelbeating shop in Mason St, Campbellfield.
A $1 million reward was announced last year in an effort to catch the killers.
The northern suburbs have been plagued by drive-by shootings and kneecappings for over a decade.
Many of the figures involved in the violence have been dragged to coercive hearings aimed at breaking the hold of fear, which prevents people from telling authorities who is responsible.
The drive-by shootings have often been linked to drug trafficking and drug debts.
There have been instances where the violence has been employed so as to intimidate witnesses into not giving evidence.
Police do not believe the recent drive-by shooting of senior Comanchero bikie gang member Robert Morando is linked to any other recent gun attacks.
That ambush, at Narre Warren South on October 14, is now believed to be an internal gang matter.