A man says he was shot in the leg when masked men fired upon him and his friends as they were playing soccer in Melbourne.

The wounded Kings Park man says the masked group was on a basketball court when they shot at him and his mates near Drummond Street in Carlton about 10.30pm on Thursday.

That incident came just hours after another public shooting, in Airport West, that left a 31-year-old man with lower-body wounds. Victoria's anti-bikie task force is investigating that shooting.

Police on Friday said the soccer players have told investigators they ran to their cars and had driven off before realising the 25-year-old man had been shot in the leg.

He was treated at the Western Hospital before being transferred to another hospital.

The soccer group were playing at the rear of an apartment block on Drummond Street when they heard the loud bangs and saw the four men on a nearby basketball court.

Two of the masked men fired a number of shots towards the soccer group.

Armed Crime Squad is investigating.