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Bidong said he was with his brother in the lead-up to the shooting and had just driven away from the nightclub when he received a call telling him to come back.
The shooter remains on the run. Police are yet to reveal anything about the suspect and no arrests have been made.
Ter Yoa, deputy chair of the South Sudanese Community Association of Victoria, said community leaders would meet on Monday to discuss the tragedy, including how they could best support the family and work with police to find Bidong’s attacker.
Yoa said the claims of potential retaliation attacks were unfounded, had caused further distress to Bidong’s family and fuelled fear in the South Sudanese community.
“Until now, the authorities and the community leaders are still investigating what has happened and why this has happened,” Yoa said.
“We want the families to know we stand firm with them. We also want people to give the authorities time to investigate who is accountable for this tragedy.”
Yoa, who is relative of Pal Bidong, said he was devastated by his death.
“It is a shock to everyone, a terrible shock,” he said. “He was a very good, young man.”
Yoa said the last time he saw Bidong was in late September when they both attended a burial for another young person who was murdered in Melbourne’s tight-knit South Sundanese community: talented basketball player Kioyom Athum.
Athum, 28, was fatally stabbed at a park just a few hundred metres from his home in the early hours of the morning. He had no links to any gangs or any history of crime, and it is believed he stepped in to defuse a fight. No arrests have been made.
Lawyer and South Sudanese community leader Bol Aweeng Machar Maduot also rejected claims of possible retaliation, describing Bidong’s death as “a tragedy and an isolated incident”.
Talented basketball player and breadwinner for his family, Kioyom Athum, was stabbed to death in a Melbourne park earlier this year.
He said the South Sudanese community had been left reeling from the violent deaths of Bidong and Athum within months of each other.
He said youth violence continued to be an issue within pockets of young people in the community, and leaders were committed to doing everything they could to prevent it.
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“We really need to address this and to look at all the avenues of how we can stop future tragedies, and that will be the basis of this meeting,” he said.
Camera footage taken after the shooting showed a volatile scene, with fights breaking out among people in the middle of the street.
Detective Acting Inspector Alan Rumble said patrons were on their way home from the North Melbourne rave when Bidong’s body was discovered.
“Emotions were high,” he said. “It’s a horrific incident — it’s something that none of us wanted to experience.”
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Bidong’s manager, Iltaf Alessandro, said the rapper had been one of a kind, influencing the younger generation to “chase their dreams and smash their goals” through his music.
The rapper featured in NSG’s new single, Spin Da Block, released less than nine hours before his death.
“[Bidong] cared about others more than he did himself,” Alessandro said. “He had a very good heart – I couldn’t tell you anything bad about the guy.
“He started taking it seriously around six or seven months ago – every day, he’d be working with his family, or at a [gig] booking or appearance. He was literally booked flat out … It was about to start changing his life.”
Police say there’s no ongoing threat to the community. A Victoria Police spokesperson said the events of Saturday were “devastating for all involved”.
“These incidents impact the entire community, and police are aware of tensions in the community as a result of this,” the spokesperson said.
“Police are undertaking proactive reassurance activities.”
Anyone with footage or information about the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
With Ashleigh McMillan and Gemma Grant