Young taxi driver stabbed on Melbourne street while walking home from work
Police are looking for a man carrying a satchel who was seen running from the scene where a Melbourne taxi driver was brutally murdered.
Thirty-one-year-old Somalian cab driver Mohamud Mohmud Muketar finished his shift late Wednesday night and was walking to his Fitzroy home when he was reportedly stabbed around 11.30pm.
He was found injured on the corner of Condell and Napier Streets.
Mr Muketar was treated by paramedics but died at the scene near the Napier Hotel and busy Brunswick Street night spots.
Detective Inspector Mick Hughes said two witnesses saw a slim man running through a nearby park after the late-night attack.
"About five minutes after that (attack) two people sitting in Condell Reserve ... hear a faint cry for help and they see a young man, approximately 183 centimetres with a slim build and light shoulder-length hair, running through the reserve," he told reporters on Thursday.
Police say there was no suggestion the man, who was carrying a satchel, was involved "but he was certainly in the location at the time of the murder".
Insp Hughes said the driver could have been the victim of a spontaneous attack by a thief who thought the taxi driver may have been carrying large amounts of cash at the end of his shift.
The young man suffered upper body injuries snd was not shot. No weapons have been found, Inspector Hughes said.
Police said the attack was likely random.
Mr Muketa's wallet and mobile phone were found next to his body.
Paramedics and police officers from the nearby Fitzroy Police Station treated the cab driver but he died at the scene.
Family of victim at scene of Fitzroy taxi killing @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/NAHd5WAqga
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Nearby residents told AAP they didn't hear anything unusual overnight.
Lara Srbinovski, who works at a daycare centre near where the man was killed, hasn't been able to get into the Acacia Fitzroy Creche while police investigate.
"We haven't been able to open so have been advising parents to wait before dropping their kids off until we can access the centre," Ms Srbinovski told AAP on Thursday morning.
Police viewed the CCTV inside the cab and confirmed the man did not have a passenger inside the vehicle when he stopped.
A crime scene has been established at the scene and the area has been cordoned off as investigations continue Thursday morning.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
News break – April 21
