Slain boxing coach had links to outlaw motorcycle gangs
Duncan Murray, Allanah Sciberras, Sarah Spina-Matthews and Scott Bailey |
The gunning down of a prominent boxing coach outside a gym is not believed to be linked to an ongoing feud between organised crime networks.
Police are instead investigating potential links to outlaw motorcycle gangs from Queensland after Louis Meehan, 32, was shot dead in southwest Sydney on Wednesday evening.
Meehan, the son of former professional boxer Kali Meehan, died in the car park of the Punchbowl Community Centre after suffering multiple gunshot wounds.
A dozen children were inside that community centre being given tutorial lessons when the shooting unfolded.
Meehan was known to police and had links with outlaw motorcycle gangs and various types of crime, Acting Assistant Commissioner Grant Taylor told reporters on Thursday morning.
“It’s not impossible that’s why he was killed,” he said.
“This shooting does not have the same hallmarks as the other shootings that have occurred over the last several months.
“We don’t believe, in the infancy of the investigation, it does relate to the ongoing feud between the two organised crime networks.”
Police are hunting a single shooter, with a silver Lexus sedan suspected of being involved found soon after in nearby Bass Hill.
Unlike previous targeted shootings, the car was not torched after being abandoned, giving police hope of recovering forensic evidence.
Acting Superintendent Dean Johnstone told media on Wednesday he believed the attack was targeted.
“This is a callous act,” he said.
“The implications of this act could have easily endangered other members of the community.”
Authorities will probe why Meehan was in Sydney, rather than in Queensland where he frequently travels and has ongoing interactions with police and the community.
Meehan was part of the Sydney Roosters’ NRL system when younger, playing in the National Youth Cup for the club alongside current first-graders Braden Uele and Kurt Capewell in 2013.
He played 23 games for the club, but never progressed to the NRL team.
His brother Willis played one NRL game for the Roosters in 2014, and was a highly-touted forward who at one stage compared to Sonny Bill Williams.
But his career also never flourished, and he was sacked by the Roosters after being charged with assault in 2015.
The forward later admitted to interacting and working with criminals during his time in the sport.
Both brothers switched to boxing after their rugby league careers.
The shooting comes after the state government announced reforms targeting gangland activity.
NSW Premier Chris Minns will table legal changes in parliament including aggravated offences for gangland conspiracy and attempted murder.
It follows multiple high-profile crimes in Sydney, including the death of 23-year-old Marco Tapia, who was shot dead in September, and Sydney grandfather Chris Baghsarian, who was allegedly abducted and killed in February.
Both cases are believed to have involved mistaken identity.
Opposition leader Kellie Sloane said Sydneysiders should not be expected to live with violence.
“When criminals are settling their disputes with guns in public places and innocent people are getting caught up in the crossfire, something is deeply wrong in Sydney,” she told Sydney radio 2GB.
AAP