Love Machine nightclub gunmen torched car, used getaway ute
The devastated girlfriend of a man gunned down outside the Love Machine nightclub has broken down in tears as she recounted how she tried to save his life after the “incredibly reckless” and “brutal” attack.
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New details have emerged from a drive-by shooting which left two people dead at a popular nightspot in Prahran in April.
Security guard Aaron Khalid Osmani, 37, and nightclubber Richard Arow, 28, were killed when shots peppered the outside of the Love Machine nightclub on Little Chapel Street on April 14.
Police now believe a distinctive maroon coloured ute was later used as a getaway car.
A black Porsche SUV was used in the attack but was found a short time later torched on Highpark Drive in Wollert, north of Melbourne.
A new image has been released of a maroon Ford ute with a silver tray and a distinctive bar across the back, believed to be involved and captured leaving the site of the burnt-out car.
Arow’s partner Rebekah Spinks spoke through tears, describing her boyfriend as the “warrior” of the family.
“He was the strongest man with the softest heart.”
“Richard was everything to his family and friends and to me.”
“What this has done to the family is actually so catastrophic - it’s hard and we’re just struggling.
“That night, these men were just so callous... Everyone including me on the street was a target that day - they didn’t care who they were hurting and they took the life of a really great man.
Mrs Spinks, who had been dating Mr Arow for a year and a half, said he had been on a “boys night” with friends.
The couple met up during the night and had only been outside Love Machine for about two minutes.
She pleaded with the public for information and said those responsible “don’t deserve” to be in society.
“I think there’s people out there who know who they are and those people don’t deserve to walk around the city. They don’t deserve to go home to their families. The inhumanity and the violence... they just had no care for the impact that day.”
“You just don’t imagine something like that and something so instantly tragic in Melbourne.”
“I don’t really know how to describe what it was like because I’m actually still in disbelief.”
She said she tried to help her injured boyfriend in the aftermath but couldn’t do anything.
“We’re all just hurting, everyone is hurting.”
Police believe information about the ute may hold clues to finding the attackers.
Detective Acting Inspector Julian Horan addressed the media today and said the Ute was key to finding the murderers.
“We believe the ute is connected to the arson and therefore connected to the murder,” he said.
“We are in the process of looking at the owners of all maroon Ford utility vehicles”
He said the attack was brutal and cowardly.
“Incredibly reckless and absolutely cowardly - and for what purpose?”
Detective Acting Inspector Julian Horan addressed the media today and said the ute was key to finding the murderers.
“We believe the ute is connected to the arson and therefore connected to the murder,” he said.
“We are in the process of looking at the owners of all maroon Ford utility vehicles”
He said the attack was brutal and cowardly.
“Incredibly reckless and absolutely cowardly - and for what purpose?
Mr Arow’s mother made an emotional statement, using a translator, about the harrowing few months since her son’s death.
Yom Ayom remember her son as “smart” and “athletic” and said he worked volunteering with youth justice and coaching soccer.
She said she had been given a life sentence by the callous killers.
“You’ve not only taken his life, you’ve also taken mine because I don’t think I’ll ever recover.”
“The grief she is going though - she doesn’t know if it’s going to go away.
“She raised these kids as a single mother... he was everything to her and she can not understand how this has occurred.”
She said the family migrated to Australia after fleeing Sudan in 2002 when Mr Arow was just 12 years old.
“When they came to Australia the very reason she came here was to escape gun violence... she could not visualise her son taken away from her by the same thing she was running from in Sudan.”
“He was a good person. Kind. And always tried to see the best out of someone.”
Mr Arow was the second eldest of five children.
Det Act Insp Horan said they did not have a make or model of the car and would be relying on the public to recognise the vehicle.
“We’re looking at all stolen Ford utilities of that description... however we haven’t come across any that for the description at this time.”
He said investigators were keeping an open mind as to motives behind the attack.
“It may have something to do with the nightclub or conflicts with the nightclub either that night or on previous nights.”
“We have a number of suspects and a number of persons of interest we are looking at and we are perusing all avenues of enquire in relation to those people.”
He said Mr Arow’s family were not involved in any means of crime and said the shooting had “crossed the line” as innocent people had been killed.
Mr Osmani’s family issued a heartfelt statement this morning, pleeing for justice.
“Our son, brother and friend was taken too soon. He was only 37 and had his whole life ahead of him,” the statement reads.
“It’s been two months since we lost Aaron but our family is still grieving a lot, especially our parents.
“Aaron was a very loving and caring person. He lived with our parents and dedicated a lot of time to caring for them.
“His love for his 3 year old niece cannot be expressed in words and she also adored him and keeps asking where he is.
“His friends was like his family and their life has changed for ever as has everyone else involved.
“Hopefully today helps and can give our family some answers.”
In the aftermath of the attack, witnesses told the Herald Sun they saw four men in the Porsche soon after shots rang out about 3.10am on Sunday.
One woman, Sandra, said she saw the Porsche’s back door open as the ambush began, and believed four people were inside.
She said after the shooting, the door shut as the car sped away over Malvern Rd and into a side street, Bray St: “The driver looked like he didn’t know what to do and almost crashed into another car.
“People were screaming, and the ones who were waiting in line were all running inside the club. And others were just running away.
“The guy just shot the people and drove off. There were four shots, and it was just boom, boom, boom, boom. There were bodies just on the ground.”
Last month it emerged the bashing of a Melbourne crime figure’s son was a possible motive being probed.
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Four other people were injured during the incident, including three men, aged 26, 29 and 50, who all sustained non-life threatening injuries.
A 20-year-old woman was also injured, believed to have fallen and hit her head during the chaos.
Detectives are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the attack and no arrests have been made.
Anyone with information or unseen dashcam footage from the night is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.