A man has been shot dead in an ambush as he walked on his driveway to go to work at his suburban Melbourne home.
The man, who other news publications have named as John Peter Latorre, was found outside a Buchanan Place home in Greenvale, about 20km north of Melbourne, just after 4.30am on Tuesday.
Mr Latorre, a fruit and vegetable wholesaler, is alleged to have links to Melbourne’s mafia.
Sergeant Danny Travaglini said the victim was walking out of his garage to his driveway when he was approached and shot in the upper body.
Paramedics tried to revive Mr Latorre but he was declared dead at the scene.
At least two of his family members were home at the time of the incident with one relative discovering the victim.
Detectives have spoken to Mr Latorre’s family but said they were “quite distraught” and were not in a position to provide much detail.
Two women were escorted through police tape at the crime scene by detectives about 9.30am with one person consoling a visibly upset woman.
Police are yet to formally identify the man but Sgt Travaglini said gang links associated to the shooting would form part of the investigation.
He said initial inquiries suggest the man was known to Victoria Police.
The crime scene was expanded after initial inquiries suggested a car may have approached from a particular area, police said.
Sgt Travaglini said there was nothing yet to suggest any retaliatory attacks but warned if there were any links to organised crime there was always potential for payback.
“That’s where Victoria Police approach such investigations as a high priority for those reasons to ensure we mitigate any further risk,” he said.
“We obviously have proactive units within a Victorian Police to try and disrupt and impact organised crime to ensure that retaliation and other activities don’t occur.”
Detectives are investigating any links between a shopfront on Glengala Rd in Sunshine West going up in flames on Tuesday morning.
“We’ll make inquiries in relation to what happened in Sunshine and see if there’s any connections to what’s happened here this morning,” Sgt Travaglini said.
No arrests have been made as police look into the background of everyone involved or known to police who lived in the area or associated with Mr Latorre.
“We will do whatever we possibly can to ensure there’s no retaliation if there’s anything suggested as retaliation,” Sgt Travaglini said.
Police are asking anyone with any information or CCTV footage in the area to come forward.
