BIKER NEWS -- A bikie who turned up at Sunshine Hospital with a gunshot wound on Sunday night has been charged with drug trafficking...
BIKER NEWS -- A bikie who turned up at Sunshine Hospital with a gunshot wound on Sunday night has been charged with drug trafficking.
It was the sixth shooting incident in four days, as Melbourne's plague of gun violence continues unabated.
Acting Commander Peter De Santo conceded on Monday afternoon that the force may have let some intelligence about gun crime fall through the cracks, and revealed that a range of measures, including specific legislation targeting drive-by shootings, was being considered.
But he moved to alleviate concerns that the general community was at risk, saying almost all of the shootings involved criminal retribution, or other incidents between people who knew each other.
One of the most recent victims, Shane Middleton, is a prominent patched member of the Mongols.
Police said they found a commercial quantity of ecstasy tablets in the car Mr Middleton was driven to hospital in by his girlfriend. The 25-year-old from Seabrook was suffering a gunshot wound to the leg.
He had been driven to the hospital by his 26-year-old girlfriend, arriving at 8.15pm on Sunday.
Police said the pair were uncooperative. The drugs were found when police searched the car.
Mr Middleton was charged with trafficking a commercial quantity of ecstasy and possessing ammunition.
Paramedics were also called to the corner of Main Road East and Sunshine Avenue in Kealba, in the city's north-west, at 4am on Monday to treat a man with gunshot wounds.
There was no victim to treat when the ambulance arrived. A 23-year-old from Caroline Springs presented at Werribee hospital two hours later.
Acting Commander De Santo said that shooting was believed to be linked to an aggravated burglary at a marijuana crop house in St Albans later on Monday, where shots were also fired.
Police are also investigating three other shootings since Friday - at Kurunjang, near Melton, Kings Park, another suburb in the city's north-west, and Bentleigh East on Friday morning.
A 23-year-old man was taken to hospital in a critical condition after he was shot while reportedly trying to jump-start a car on Saturday in Dalray Crescent in Kurunjang. A second man in his 50s, believed to be helping start the car, was also assaulted.
Two men are assisting police, and Acting Commander De Santo described the matter as a domestic dispute, with charges likely.
Another two men were arrested following a shooting on Sunday afternoon when a man in his 20s was shot in the leg in Shepherds Grove, Kings Park. Acting Commander De Santo said the father of the victim was likely to be charged.
On Friday, a man was gunned down at his Bentleigh East house after being followed home by three men. Acting Commander De Santo said that the shooting was drug related.
A Fairfax Media analysis, published in an interactive map, of reported shootings in Victoria this year shows that, on average, someone was shot and either killed or injured every nine days.
Almost one in three shootings resulting in death and injury over the past 10 months were concentrated in a small pocket in Melbourne's outer north.
Last month was the worst for gun violence so far this year with 12 shootings.
At least half of the eight fatal shootings this year were drug-related, the victims suspected or convicted traffickers, or associated with some of Melbourne's most notorious criminal networks.
The spate of shootings came to a head last week when a Rachad Adra, 54, was killed and his four-year-old son injured when six shots were fired into their Thomastown home last Tuesday.
Police were investigating if his older sons were the intended targets.
This article was first published on November 2, 2015 - 4:39PM
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