Keilor village shooting: Underworld figure Gavin 'Capable' Preston shot dead in drive-by shooting at Melbourne cafe

A major underworld figure has been shot dead while eating breakfast at a suburban shopping village on Saturday morning. 

Feared Melbourne crime figure Gavin ‘Capable’ Preston was killed in the drive-by shooting at Sweet Lulus cafe at the Keilor Village in the city’s north-west. 

It’s believed Preston was shot 10 times while he was eating a meal with a close relative of crime figure Nabil Maghnie, according to the Herald Sun.

Underworld figure Gavin ‘Capable’ Preston has been shot dead at Sweet Lulu’s cafe at Keilor Village in Melbourne’s north-west this morning

The other man was also injured in the shooting.

Victoria Police have closed the Old Calder Highway on both ends of the shopping precinct. 

Residents have been urged to avoid the area with a major pile up of traffic. 

An underworld source told the Sunday Age, ‘they put a clip into him’. 

It’s believed the alleged shooters fled the scene in a car. 

Detectives from the homicide squad along with police and emergency crews are at the scene. 

Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia they are investigating the incident. 

‘Police are currently in Keilor following a fatal shooting,’ a spokesperson said. 

‘Police have cordoned off the area and a crime scene has been established.

‘Officers are still working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident however at this early stage the incident appears to be targeted.’ 

Police including homicide detectives and emergency crews have cordoned off Keilor Village after underworld figure Gavin ‘Capable’ Preston was shot in a drive by shooting

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Preston, one of Melbourne’s most violent and feared gangland figures, was released from jail in February after he spent 11-years behind bars over the death of a drug trafficker Adam Khoury who was shot in 2012. 

Preston was also involved in a spate of shootings that year after another drug dealer was also injured. 

Preston, nicknamed ‘Capable’ because he was considered ‘capable of anything’, had a significant rap sheet of violent offences, including armed robbery and the use of weapons, dating back to when he was 18. 

He later had the moniker tattooed on his neck. 

A local shop owner told the Herald-Sun said he was having coffee when he heard ‘chaos’ in the street.

‘I didn’t hear any shots but I heard the sirens and everyone rushing over,’ he said.

‘What has this country come to? Last night (the Bourke St incident) and now this. It’s crazy.’

Sweet Lulu’s cafe in Melbourne’s north-west was rocked by a shooting on Saturday morning, which claimed the life of feared underworld figure Gavin ‘Capable’ Preston

Police and underworld figures had been on alert since Preston’s release. 

The 50-year-old crime figure was suspected of being involved in the death of former bikie Toby Mitchell and had allegedly plotted to kill Mick Gatto. 

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton was asked to address the incident while giving a press conference with Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews about the horror crash in Bourke St on Friday night.

He told reporters he believed one man had died and another was shot in the stomach, and that the offenders had fled the scene and remained at large.

It was reported Preston had prepared for his release from prison by reaching out to old enemies to assure them he would not be looking to settle old scores once released.

‘No one’s buying the story he wants a quiet life,’ a person who knew Preston told The Age. 

‘He’s always been mad, and that’s not going to change. 

‘There’s been a heap of talk and there’s a few people who’d obviously prefer he was still there inside.’