The scene in Preston where Sam Abdulrahim was shot dead.Credit: Nine News
Homicide squad detectives are expected to address the media later on Tuesday.
High Street near the Quest Hotel in Preston remained closed in both directions between Youngman St and Wood Street as police collected evidence from the scene.
Relatives of Abdulrahim, visibly distressed, attended the scene earlier on Tuesday morning.
Members of the public also gathered behind the police tape, trying to get a glimpse of the crime scene.
Abdulrahim, who lived under death threats for years, went into hiding in May 2024 after only narrowly escaping an ambush outside his northern suburbs home, where gunmen shot at him 17 times.
His Lalor home, shot up in another drive-by and then later firebombed, has been left abandoned and unlivable.
Abdulrahim’s Instagram account was littered with false trails, including a photo that was purportedly posted from Lebanon with the message: “Feels good to be in motherland” when he was actually seen partying at a Melbourne bar.
In September, he appeared briefly to be working as a bodyguard for Russian mixed martial arts star Khabib Nurmagomedov at an event in Kuala Lumpur, according to a social media post about the MMA star.
The incidents came after an ambush outside Fawkner cemetery in June 2022, where he was shot eight times.
It comes as police and underworld sources suspect a series of seemingly random or unexplained violent attacks in the past six months are actually linked to enemies of Abdulrahim, who viciously targeted his family, friends and associates.
Friends and associates of Abdulrahim also began posting on social media as news of his death spread.
“It is with great sadness that our dear brother Sam Abdulrahim has tragically passed away and returned to his Lord,” wrote an associate on Facebook.
“May Allah have mercy on his soul, forgive his sins and give his family patience and strength.”
Another wrote: “this is beyond belief and absolutely heartbreaking.”
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