One dead in shooting outside Melbourne nightclub, 3 injured
SYDNEY: A drive-by shooting outside a nightclub in the Australian city of Melbourne inflicted "horrific injuries" that killed a security guard and wounded three men, police said yesterday, but there was no suggestion yet that the attack was terror-related.
Australia has some of the world's toughest gun control laws, adopted after its worst mass murder, when a gunman killed 35 people at Port Arthur in the island state of Tasmania in 1996.
Sunday's shooting took place around 3.20am in the lively entertainment district of Melbourne's south-eastern suburb of Prahran, police said.
Three security guards and a man queueing to enter the Love Machine nightclub were taken to hospital with gunshot injuries, police said in a televised news conference in Melbourne.
"It would appear that shots have been discharged from a car in this area into a crowd standing outside the nightclub," homicide inspector Andrew Stamper said.
The victims suffered "horrific injuries" from a weapon fired in close proximity, he added.
SHOT IN FACE
One guard died in hospital, another man was in critical condition and two escaped life-threatening injuries. One guard was shot in the face, The Age newspaper said.
However, there was no suggestion yet that the attack was terror-related, a police spokesman said. No arrests have been made and the investigation continues. - REUTERS
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