Senior Bandidos member shot during Bike’s annual run in Ballarat, Victoria
- Senior Bandidos member shot
- The incident came as the club was on an annual run
A senior member of the Bandidos motorcycle gang has been shot near a gang clubhouse during the group’s annual run to regional Victoria.
The 29-year-old man was admitted to Ballarat Hospital shortly after 1am on Sunday with non-life-threatening injuries from a gunshot wound.
Police believe the senior member of the outlaw motorcycle gang was near the Bandidos clubhouse when the shooting occurred.
The incident comes as hundreds of members of the Bandidos OMCG descended on Ballarat and neighboring Buninyong for their national run.
Victoria Police’s Echo and VIPER Taskforce, supported by local police and specialist units, monitored the event to ensure public safety.
The incident comes as hundreds of members of the Bandidos OMCG descended on Ballarat and neighboring Buninyong for their national run
Detectives from the Echo Taskforce, a decade-old anti-cycling unit, will now take over the investigation into the Ballarat shooting.
Members of the OMCG, one of the state’s largest, arrived in Ballarat on Friday before driving to Buninyong Cemetery, about 11km away.
In a statement on Friday, Victoria Police said there would be an increased police presence in Ballarat ahead of the gang’s departure on Sunday.
“Police will be ready to take swift action if members are guilty of criminal offences, road safety or public order offences,” they said.
Victoria Police’s Echo and VIPER Taskforce, supported by local police and specialist units, monitored the event to ensure public safety
Western Region Chief Inspector Frank Sells told the Herald Sun that police would ‘not be intimidated’ and their presence would be increased
Western Region Chief Inspector Frank Sells told the Herald Sun that police would ‘not be intimidated’ and their presence would be increased.
Ballarat has played host to the Bandidos on several occasions, with last year’s annual general meeting held at popular local restaurant Lazy Moe’s.
The club even placed an advertisement in the Ballarat newspaper after the event, thanking Ballarat residents for their ‘warm hospitality’.