Police manhunt for up to four people over midnight execution of bikie Shane Bowden on Gold Coast
It has been revealed Gold Coast bikie Shane Bowden was shot up to 12 times as he was executed as he pulled into his driveway.
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Investigators are on the hunt for up to four people they believe are responsible for the execution-style murder of Finks bikie Shane Bowden.
The 47-year-old was shot up to 12 times as he pulled into the driveway of his Gold Coast home in the early hours of Monday morning.
Queensland Police Service Detective Superintendent Brandan Smith wouldn’t say exactly how many people they were looking for, but said it was “more than one and less than five”.
Mr Smith said there was no doubt that Bowden had been executed.
“This was clearly a planned and targeted approach,” he said.
“He hasn’t even got out of his vehicle and he’s been shot multiple times.”
It’s believed Bowden went to the gym and went to a fast-food venue before he pulled up to the Pimpama property, where he was then ambushed.
Mr Smith said witness accounts that there were between four and 12 bullets fired was “a fair estimate”.
“It was a surprising number,” he said.
Despite his links to the outlaw motorcycle gang world, investigators do not believe Bowden was killed over a gang dispute.
“It’d be wrong for people to even suggest that,” Mr Smith said, adding it appeared to be a personal attack.
“The deceased had an interesting background and history.
“That lifestyle comes with its own risks and this is probably a consequence of that risk.”
r Smith said there was “no risk to the community” as it appeared it was an internal Mongols incident, after Bowden was reportedly “kicked out” of the gang earlier in the year.
“It is important that people understand that these gangs are criminals, they don’t take fluffy toys to hospital, they are criminal gangs who survive on retribution, violence and threats and if anyone thinks anything otherwise they’re an idiot,” he said.
“You live by the sword, you die by the sword.”
Bowden’s new partner and her two young children were home at the time of the incident, but did not witness the horrific shooting.
However, two crime scenes have been established - one at the house - after a burnt-out car was found nearby in Ormeau.
Mr Smith urged anyone with information, even rumours, to come forward, adding often they contained elements of truth.
“The smallest thing could make the biggest difference,” he said.
Bowden’s death has already prompted LNP leader Deb Frecklington to commit to cracking down on bikies and gun crime should she win the October 31 election.
Ms Frecklington said crime had surged under the Palaszczuk government, and that she would reintroduce LNP’s “proven and effective bikie laws”, and launch a new crackdown on gun crime.”
“This cold-blooded killing is another reminder that the bikies have come back under Labor,” she said.
“Sadly, Queensland currently has some of the weakest gun crime laws in Australia … Where there should be tough penalties and tight protections, there are weak punishments and glaring holes in Queensland laws.”
Bowden recently made headlines when he was accused of lying on his border declaration when he returned to Queensland from Melbourne, having previously tested positive to COVID-19.
It was initially reported he had flown while infectious, however Queensland Health later said he had recovered from the virus before travelling.
When he arrived in the Sunshine State, police vowed to conduct a “complete and thorough” investigation.
He appeared in court last week, and was fined just $750 after the magistrate labelled the form “stupid” and “confusing” in relation to the question: “Do you currently have COVID-19 or in the last 14 days have you been a cleared case of COVID-19?”
Magistrate Joan White said the question should have been split into two.
Bowden tested positive to COVID-19 on August 5 while in hospital being treated for an infected gunshot wound.
He was cleared of the virus on August 21, and filled out the declaration pass six days later, in which he said he “had not been cleared of COVID-19 in the previous 14 days.”
If he had declared he had been cleared of the virus seven days earlier, he would not have been able to enter Queensland.
He was once part of the Finks “terror team” and was responsible for shooting Christopher Hudson during the notorious ballroom blitz brawl.
In March 2006, three men were shot and three more were stabbed when members of the Finks attacked rival Hells Angels bikies in the Royal Pines Resort ballroom.
In 2008, Bowden was sentenced to 6 and a half years for his role in the melee, which took place in front of 1800 spectators and caused more than $10,000 worth of damage.
Weeks after he was released from prison in July this year, Bowden was the target of a drive-by shooting in Melbourne in July where he was shot in the leg.
When he returned to Queensland in August, he told The Courier Mail he wanted to return home to recover from his wounding.
Originally published as Police manhunt for up to four people over midnight execution of bikie Shane Bowden on Gold Coast