A 14-year-old boy killed in suburban Melbourne was hit by a car and knifed by two attackers.
The Braybrook teen and two friends were walking home from a railway station in St Albans late on Monday when an SUV approached the group.
The car turned and struck the boy, before two men in face coverings armed with knives got out and attacked him.
His friends were not physically hurt and managed to run away.
They called emergency services but the boy died on the way to hospital.
Victoria Police Detective Inspector David Dunstan said the attack was horrific and revealed investigators believe the 14-year-old boy was targeted but it was not gang related.
The motive behind the attack and identity of those involved are not yet known.
The three boys were making their way home from the city but it's unclear if they were followed from Ginifer station.
"We have nothing else to indicate that there was any sort of altercation or any other involvement in the city this stage, the victim has no prior history with police," Mr Dunstan told reporters on Tuesday.
Authorities are searching for the knives involved.
Mr Dunstan asked anyone who found a weapon in their garden to come forward.
The car involved is described as a light coloured mid-sized SUV.
Local police will step up patrols in the area however Mr Dunstan said the rest of the community was not in danger.
He said the victim may have known another teenager who was fatally attacked in the nearby suburb of Sunshine in May as they lived and attended school in the same area, however there was no evidence the crimes were linked.
