Police are hunting up to seven men who allegedly threatened a driver at gunpoint during a terrifying carjacking in Melbourne's south-east.
The victim was driving in Pakenham on Friday afternoon when the attack occurred around 2.40pm.
It is believed the man was trying to park on Savage Street when up to seven men approached his gold Holden Commodore sedan.
They then started to threaten the driver.
"One of the men produced a firearm and demanded the victim get out of his car," a police spokeswoman said.
"One offender then left in the vehicle, which has since been located abandoned on Gallery Way. The others fled on foot."
Police have described all the offenders as African in appearance.
The victim was uninjured during the incident.
An elderly resident of Savage Street said four police cars were still parked on the street at 6.30pm. Earlier in the evening she saw police escort a young man, possibly the victim, into a car, she said.
"One policeman was putting evidence bags into his car. My grandson came home and said there is a helicopter overhead, so they must not have caught the people involved," she said.
"It's incredibly worrying to think this is going on, it's just lucky no-one was walking down the street and became involved... an innocent victim."
"It's extremely disturbing to think it's going on right where we live. It's frightened me enormously."
It comes just over a week after a woman had a gun put to her head and was pistol-whipped in a carjacking in Melbourne's outer south-east.
Kay (who did not use her surname), stopped to swap details when her car was rear-ended by an SUV in Narre Warren South on July 26.
"I thought, I'm going to die": Kay spoke to the media on Friday after she fell victim to carjackers last week.Credit: Chris Hopkins
A man produced a gun, pressed it to her forehead and demanded her keys. When she didn't hand them over straight away, she was pistol-whipped.
Kay, 57, said she started to scream and shout as the man held the gun at her head.
“I thought, I’m going to die now. I thought they were going to shoot me," she said.
The Volkswagen stolen was then involved in a crash in Dandenong North on Saturday.
Police on Thursday released CCTV of the man who allegedly crashed and dumped the car appearing to hide from police.
The violent incident prompted police to issue new advice to crash victims, advising people not to get out of their vehicle unless they know it is safe.
They believe would-be carjackers crash into vehicles as a way of luring targets.
The Andrews government introduced new legislation in 2016 to create a specific offence of carjacking and aggravated carjacking.
As part of a move to toughen legislation rolled out earlier this year, Victorian judges are now forced to send criminals convicted of these crimes to prison, with courts banned from using Community Correction Orders for those offences.
But the latest attack is just one in string of carjackings and failed attempts that have seen victims threatened with weapons during 2018.
- In January, a teenage girl was beaten by thugs and dragged from her Renault convertible in Frankston as her attackers tried to flee police.
- In February, a man armed with a crowbar and wearing a dishcloth over his face attempted to carjack a woman’s Mercedes Benz at Donvale.
- In March, a man sporting a birthmark under his eye made unsuccessful demands for a couple's car at Northcote.
- In May, a 33-year-old Glenroy man's leg was slashed with a knife during an attempted carjacking at the Hoppers Crossing train station car park. Days later a woman was ambushed and hit in the head during a frightening carjacking at a Braeside petrol station at 3.30am.
- And in June, two teens were arrested in Heathcote, north of Melbourne, after allegedly trying to force the keys from a married couple in a residential street. The teens, allegedly armed with a tyre lever, are also accused over stealing a Mazda from a Melbourne family earlier in the day.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.