View slideshow of photos taken near where Des was shot.
Police are hunting for two gunmen involved in the fatal shooting of the brother
of slain underworld identity Lewis Moran.
Desmond 'Tuppence' Moran was shot
several times inside his local deli in Ascot Vale in Melbourne's
north-west.
Two men wearing balaclavas were seen speeding away from the cafe
moments after the shots rang out.
Desmond Moran was the brother of Lewis
Moran, who was murdered in 2004 during Melbourne's gangland war, and uncle to
Mark and Jason Moran, who were also killed in gangland disputes.
Witnesses
say Lewis Moran's former wife, gangland matriarch Judy Moran, arrived at the
scene shortly after the shooting.
Han Carkeek said he was standing at the
tram stop on Union Road when he heard several gun shots, then saw a man running
away up the road.
"After the car pulled up I heard three shots in succession
bang, bang, bang, bang, then there was a little slight pause and then the fourth
one, bang, and then the guy took off up the road," he said.
"I turned around
and I saw this guy walking out of the shop and he's literally dropped to the
ground.
"The last thing I saw was firstly, the guy dropping to the ground;
secondly, the guy running off, and thirdly, the car speeding off. That's all I
saw."
Mr Carkeek said he saw Judy Moran arrive at the scene.
"She was
screaming, 'Oh Dessey, Dessey'," he said.
Police are looking for two men who
fled the scene in a dark blue or green car.
Officers searched surrounding
streets and took away Desmond Moran's Mercedes-Benz, which was parked around the
corner from the scene of his death.
Craig Dinn, who has been living at
Desmond Moran's house for the last month, says he is stunned at the news.
"I
don't know how it could happen to such a nice guy," he said.
Desmond Moran
escaped serious injury in March when shots were fired outside his Ascot Vale
home.
He was in his car with a friend when one shot was fired through the
front windscreen, narrowly missing the pair.
At the time, a Purana Task Force
detective said police did not believe that incident was
gangland-related.
'Creature of habit'
Andrew Rule, the co-author of the
Underbelly books, says he was tipped off about today's shooting by a close
associate of the Morans not long after it happened.
He says Desmond Moran was
the most amiable man of the notorious clan.
"One thing about a lot of these
fellows is that they are creatures of habit and it got his brother Lewis
killed," he said.
"He turned up at the same bar in Brunswick regularly and
that's where the gunman found him in 2004.
"And now Desmond has made a habit
of turning up to drink coffee at a particular deli in Union Road, Ascot Vale,
near his house, and they knew where to find him."
He says it is hard to know
if this shooting is connected to the previous attempt on his life.
"This
latest shooting would appear to be far more slick, far more in earnest; I think
as many as six shots were fired," he said.
"I would have thought not
directly [linked to the gangland wars of years gone by] because that gangland
war was financed by a particular big drug dealer [Carl Williams] who is now in
jail for 35 years, has no money and very few friends. So I would have thought
not."Source:
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