Notorious criminal gunned down at cafe
Police are on the hunt for two suspected gunmen after a notorious gangland figure was gunned down while eating at a cafe on Saturday morning.
A man, believed to be Gavin ‘Capable’ Preston, was shot up to ten times in an ambush attack at Sweet Lulu’s cafe in Keilor East, northwest of Melbourne’s CBD about 10.20am.
Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt updated the media early on Saturday afternoon, confirming a second man injured in the shooting is undergoing surgery in hospital.
“We believe it‘s linked to organised crime and that will form part of our investigation going forward,” Mr Hatt said.
Police are now hunting two men dressed in black who fled the scene in a black Audi SUV, which was found dumped soon after on Blair Court, also in Keilor.
Acting Superintendent Hatt believes a second vehicle was then used.
“We‘ll do absolutely everything we possibly can to ensure no further acts like this occur,” he said.
“I can reassure the public that we believe that this was a targeted attack.”
The Herald Sun reports Preston was released from jail earlier this year after serving 11 years for the 2012 shooting of drug dealer Adam Khoury in North Melbourne.
During his time in jail, the infamous criminal identity was the victim of a stabbing which nearly cost him his life.
Homicide detectives remain investigating at the scene.
At the time of writing, no arrests had been made.
Photos taken at the cafe show officers in a scuffle with a man and a woman who claimed to know the dead man. Both appear to be struggling with police as they’re surrounded.
Footage on social media shows a heavy police presence outside the cafe, with the area completely cordoned off to the public.
Writing on Facebook, someone claiming to be an eyewitness said they had seen paramedics attempting to revive someone at the scene.
“This is absolutely terrifying. I hope members of the community were not harmed in this incident! Such a busy and popular local cafe too!” one member of a Keilor community group posted.
There were no reports of anyone else being injured in the shooting.
Police continued their investigations on Saturday afternoon, with the Herald Sun reporting detectives had found burnt out vehicles believed to have been used as getaway cars.
The shocking killing continues a weekend of carnage in the Victorian capital, after a car ploughed into five people in Melbourne’s CBD on Friday evening, killing one.
