{"id":35018,"date":"2025-07-31T13:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T13:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/35018\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T13:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T13:27:09","slug":"police-investigate-suspected-targeted-fatal-shooting-of-21-year-old-in-wollert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/35018\/","title":{"rendered":"Police investigate suspected targeted fatal shooting of 21-year-old in Wollert"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 21-year-old man has been found dead following a suspected targeted shooting in Melbourne’s outer north.<\/p>\n

Emergency services were called to reports of a shooting near Champions Parade, Wollert, just before 9am on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Police believe the victim was approached and shot by another male in a laneway behind a residential address.<\/p>\n

He was declared dead at the scene.<\/p>\n

The ABC understands the victim of the Wollert shooting was 21-year-old Athan Boursinos.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Officers guard the scene of the fatal shooting, which left a young man dead. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

“It appears very deliberate and obviously targeted, so we’re open to all the possibilities,” Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said.<\/p>\n

Police believe the shooter fled the scene in a vehicle.<\/p>\n

They are also investigating whether a burnt-out vehicle discovered in Amery Street, Reservoir, a short time afterwards, is linked to the shooting.<\/p>\n

Vision from the scene in Wollert showed several streets closed off as police guarded the alleyway where the man’s body was found.<\/p>\n

One neighbour told reporters the incident, which unfolded near a kindergarten, was “very concerning”.<\/p>\n

“At the time of day as well, with mums dropping their kids off at their playgroup, that’s pretty alarming,” she said.<\/p>\n

Five arrests over car park shooting\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in a separate matter, police have charged five men who they allege were “foot soldiers” in the daylight shooting of Melbourne man Robert Issa in a shopping centre car park almost two years ago.<\/p>\n

The group, aged between 26 and 33, was taken into custody before police raided six addresses in Kew, Mickleham, Pascoe Vale and Fawkner early on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Police subsequently charged the five men with murder, attempted murder and criminal damage by fire.<\/p>\n

Mr Issa, 27, was sitting next to a male associate<\/a> in a white Mercedes station wagon parked outside the Craigieburn Central shopping centre when the incident unfolded on October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old was fatally shot outside the Craigieburn Central shopping centre almost two years ago. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Police allege a black Range Rover pulled up before a number of men got out and fired multiple shots into the other vehicle.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. His associate was seriously injured.<\/p>\n

Police believe the killing was a targeted attack between organised crime figures, but say they have an “open mind” as to the motive.<\/p>\n

Detective Inspector Thomas told reporters on Thursday that the arrests came nearly two years into a “significant” and “protracted” investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“These arrests are a turning point in this investigation, but they are only the beginning,” he said.<\/p>\n

At a hearing of Melbourne’s Bail and Remand Court on Thursday evening, police said they had compiled “hundreds of hours” of footage and seized more than 20 devices relating to the case.<\/p>\n

The police brief of evidence was also expected to include phone records, expert telecommunications analysis and DNA analysis, the court heard.<\/p>\n

The five men were remanded in custody, and the next hearing for the case is expected on December 4.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The shooting took place in broad daylight in the car park of a major shopping centre. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

“We believe these men were likely the foot soldiers who carried out the [alleged] murder, but we believe there are also people further up the chain who are responsible for ordering this attack.<\/p>\n

“At this stage, we believe this was a targeted attack and we are confident there is some organised crime involvement in this. We keep an open mind as to what that is.”<\/p>\n

The detective repeatedly appealed for members of the public to come forward with information as police work to identify who ordered and paid for the shooting.<\/p>\n

The incident took place at about 3pm on a Saturday in a relatively full car park as members of the public carried out their shopping.<\/p>\n

“There were families going about their business. Children walking through the car park,” Detective Inspector Thomas said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It could very well have ended with other people, other innocent people perhaps, being injured or killed.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 21-year-old man has been found dead following a suspected targeted shooting in Melbourne’s outer north. Emergency services…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[32029,32030,43,647,44,32031,32032,4905,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-35018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-craigieburn","tag-craigieburn-central-shopping-centre","tag-headlines","tag-melbourne","tag-news","tag-organised-crime","tag-robert-issa","tag-shooting","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}