Melbourne underworld figure shot dead

Melbourne underworld figure Nabil Maghnie has been shot dead in an attack which left two others with gunshot wounds.

A 27-year-old man, understood to be one of Maghnie's sons, and a 44-year-old man were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

They were shot in a car park near a 24-hour gym and a Mexican restaurant in Epping in Melbourne's north when they reportedly went to settle a dispute on Thursday night.

Police believe they knew their attackers.

Maghnie, 44, from Bundoora was found with a suspected gunshot wound and later died at the scene near the intersection of Childs Road and Dalton Road.

His body was found in front of a black Mercedes-Benz ute, which was towed away from Dalton Road on Friday morning.

Afterwards a crowd of mourners gathered at the intersection.

Maghnie, also known as Nabil Moughnieh, had been shot twice before, including in 2016 when he drove himself to hospital after being wounded in the head.

He was arrested in November over the killing of drug trafficker Mitat Rasimi, but was released without charge.

Maghnie had been charged with driving while on drugs after crashing a car into a roundabout at 209km/h at Woodstock in May.

After the crash, he went to hospital where cocaine and other drugs were found in his system.

One of his sons, Jacob Elliott, has been charged with the drive-by shooting murders of two people outside Prahran's Love Machine nightclub in April last year.