A man has been found dead in a car as police investigate whether the incident is related to the recent horrific shooting of a father.
The man was found dead in his car on Mount Ararat Road, Nar Nar Goon North in regional Victoria at about 3.15pm on Monday.
“At this stage the man has not been formally identified and his death is not being treated as suspicious,” Victoria Police said.
But police are investigating whether the man’s death is in any way linked to the shooting of 58-year-old father Victor Valla on Monday morning in Melbourne’s Cranbourne East.
Mr Valla is in a coma after being shot in the stomach while trying to protect his daughter, who was followed to her home.
Blessing Valla, 21, called her father about 12.25am on Monday and told him she believed an unknown man in a white van was following her car in Melbourne’s south-east, police said.
Mr Valla, 58, told his daughter to return to her home in Cranbourne East, where he waited for her on the driveway.
When he arrived at the house five minutes later, the truck also stopped.
A man was found dead in his car on Mount Ararat Road, Nar Nar Goon North (pictured) in regional Victoria at around 3.15pm on Monday.
Victoria Police are investigating whether there is a link between the dead man and the shooting of Melbourne father Victor Valla, 58 (pictured left), who is in a coma.
Mr Valla approached the car and became involved in an altercation with the driver.
The man got out of the vehicle and pushed Mr Valla before pulling out a handgun and shooting him in the abdomen.
He then fled the scene as neighbours rushed to Mr Valla’s aid.
Blessing stayed by her father’s side until he was rushed to the hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition.
“She kept saying, ‘Dad, Dad, don’t go.’ My daughter was left holding her father’s hand,” Valla’s ex-wife, Cecilia, told reporters.
“She told me, ‘Dad almost lost his life because of me.’ It’s crazy, it was a young boy who had the gun.”
Mr Valla is known to have lost a kidney and will undergo surgery on Tuesday.
Police are treating the incident as a random attack.
No connection has been established between Mr Valla or his daughter and the gunman, who remains at large.
The shooting was captured on CCTV (pictured) before the gunmen fled the scene in the white van.
Blessing Valla, 21 (pictured), was driving home at midnight when she noticed a car following her.
“When a man goes out to protect his daughter, to be shot in the street is distressing,” Acting Detective Superintendent Mick Daly told reporters on Monday.
‘We don’t know why she was attacked and why the attacker shot the father.
“It is very worrying. Firearms in the community are a concern.”
Detectives are stepping up their investigation in the area and spent Monday afternoon reviewing CCTV and speaking to locals.
Police would also like to speak to anyone in the area who may have CCTV or dashcam footage.