An attack on a Melbourne home with a high-powered gun that killed a man and injured his young son appears to be targeted.
Neighbours reported hearing four or five loud bangs in the normally quiet Thomastown street at 3.30am on Tuesday.
A 54-year-old man was fatally shot in the torso while in bed with his wife and their four-year-old son, after bullets tore through the house's front window.
Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Mick Hughes says police will investigate whether the shooting is linked to another in the same street on October 16.
"(The shooting) appears to be targeted and certainly the viciousness of the attack, you'd think it's targeted," Det Insp Hughes told reporters gathered outside the home.
He said police don't believe the targeted shooting is linked to outlaw motorcycle gangs or drugs.
The young boy is being treated at the Royal Children's Hospital for serious injuries to his lower body.
Two older sons were also home but were uninjured.
Det Insp Hughes said those linked to the shooting would be charged with murder.
"There is no second guessing here, if you use a high-powered weapon in a public place death is pretty likely," he said.
One neighbour, who didn't want to be named, said she was woken by the shots that sounded like fire crackers.
"It woke me up, my husband heard it and so did our neighbours," the woman told AAP as she wiped tears from her eyes.
"It's scary because it's normally a quiet street and it's only a few houses down from my home."
Police will remain at the scene for most of the day as they scour the area for clues.
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