Melbourne -
Police flooded the streets of a Melbourne suburb Wednesday after shots were fired for the sixth time in two weeks in an escalating violent feud between two warring families.
Shots have been sprayed at houses, cars and even a playground in the city's northwest and while no-one has been hurt, police fear it is only a matter of time before bystanders are injured.
“We have never had more police out in those areas than we currently have and will have for coming days,” Assistant Commissioner Graham Ashton said of efforts in Glenroy and nearby suburbs.
“Our main concern is that it will escalate to where somebody is injured.
“The sort of people out there conducting themselves in this way need to get the strong message from the Victoria Police that it is not being tolerated.”
Police said the incidents were related to a clan war involving drugs, centering on a house that has been targeted several times, including by a home-made bomb thrown through the front window.
The Herald Sun said the battle was between the Tiba and Kassab families.
Police said they had spoken to members of both clans but they were not co-operating.
“The issues go back some time between these two families but they also involve, we believe, criminal activity,” said Ashton.
“Certainly drug-related activity, we believe, is probably at the core of it.”
The head of one of the families, Abdul Tiba, whose house has been hit by bullets, told the Melbourne Age newspaper he was sick of living in Australia.
“I've had enough of this stress,” he said.
“No one helps in this country. No police, no community, nobody.
“I tell them I want to go back (to Lebanon).” - Sapa-AFP