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Police Investigating Shots Fired At Gotham City Brothel
Police are investigating after a brothel in Melbourne was targeted in a shooting early Thursday, as a series of attacks on local businesses continues to escalate.
Shots were fired at the Gotham City brothel in South Melbourne. Picture: Josie Hayden
Someone drove past a Melbourne brothel at 1:45 in the morning and fired four shots into it. Then they drove away.
No arrests. No suspects in custody. No confirmed motive.
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Just another morning in a city that has been under siege for weeks.
The Gotham City Brothel on Clarke Street was targeted in the early hours of Thursday. Bullets struck a roller door and a parked car outside the premises. The building was occupied at the time. Nobody inside was hurt.
The vehicle outside was empty. That detail may be the only reason this is not a murder investigation.
Forensic teams have sealed off a large stretch of Clarke Street. Investigators are combing the scene for evidence. The suspect was gone before police arrived.
But here is what makes this more than a single isolated shooting.
Melbourne has been dealing with what authorities are calling pub wars for weeks now. More than a dozen pubs and bars have been firebombed during that period. Kidnappings. Serious assaults. A pattern of targeted attacks on businesses that has forced police to establish a dedicated unit just to keep up with the volume.
Thursday's shooting may or may not be connected. Police have not confirmed a link.
That uncertainty is its own problem.
If you have followed this far, here is what that actually means on the ground.
A city where businesses are being firebombed, people are being kidnapped and now shots are being fired from moving vehicles in the early hours of the morning is a city where the rules of public safety are being tested in real time.
Whether the brothel shooting is part of the turf conflict or something separate almost does not matter to the people working and living in these areas. The effect is the same. Nowhere feels particularly safe after dark.
Police are appealing to the public for help. Anyone with information, CCTV footage or dashcam recordings from the Clarke Street area is being urged to come forward.
The dedicated unit is working. The forensic teams are at the scene. The investigation is active.
But the suspect is still out there. And in Melbourne right now, that is becoming a familiar way to end the morning news.
Editor's Note: The latest shooting in Melbourne underscores growing concerns over a surge in targeted attacks on businesses, as authorities work to determine whether the incident is linked to the ongoing wave of violence affecting the city.
