Victoria police join hunt for Rebels bikie boss Nick Martin’s killer

Victorian police have joined the hunt for a sniper who executed a bikie boss in front of his family and a horrified sporting crowd as his wife reveals his last words.

Victoria Police’s anti-bikie taskforce is involved in the hunt to find a possible sniper who killed outlaw bikie and former Rebels chief Nick Martin.

The public killing of Martin at a street racing meet at the Kwinana Motorplex, south of Perth on Saturday night, has triggered a nationwide manhunt for the shooter.

A five-year-old boy was injured in the stealth attack on Martin, who was with his family.

The child’s injuries were minor.

But a fellow Rebels bikie member Ricky Chapman, 31, – who is the partner of Martin’s stepdaughter Stacey Schoppe – was also wounded and taken to hospital for treatment.

The gunman remains on the run.

Martin’s wife Amanda has spoken of her husband’s last moments revealing she cradled him as he died.

Nick Martin died in the arms of wife Amanda.

She said the first she knew something was wrong was when her husband’s hand abruptly graze her cheek as he fell to the ground.

“He threw his arms up and he said, ‘babe, I’ve been shot’,” she told The West Australian in an emotional interview.

“I picked him up and I just held him up. I kept telling him just to stay with me,” Ms Martin said.

“No one knew that he’d been shot because … the noise, the cars — they didn’t know.

“Someone said he’s had a heart attack. My hands were covered in blood and I said, ‘no he’s been shot’.

“I was kissing him and I was trying to give him CPR.

“But he never opened his eyes again, he was already gone.”

As investigations continue into the shooting of Martin, 51, Victoria’s anti-bikie police are sharing their intelligence with their policing counterparts to help in the hunt for the shooter.

A Victoria Police spokesperson said it was monitoring the manhunt.

Paramedics at the scene shortly after the shooting.

“Victoria Police is aware of the fatal shooting of a Rebels OMCG member in Perth on 12 December,’’ a spokesperson said.

“Police, including the Echo Taskforce, will continue to monitor the situation and share intelligence with our interstate counterparts as part of our commitment to the national Taskforce Morpheus.’’

“As this is an active Western Australia Police investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

Police will also gauge whether there is any fallout in Victoria over the hit.

Martin had survived a gunman’s attack in his driveway in 2011 and his car was firebombed a year later.

But he seemed blissfully unaware he was the target of another attack at the weekend as he attended the car racing meet with his family.

Martin had stood down as president of the WA Rebels several months ago as he and his wife were investigated over alleged extortion and money laundering offences.

Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson warned officers were at “a state of heightened readiness” for retaliatory attacks.

Mr Dawson said Martin had “lost his status” within the bikie gang.

“We know there’s friction and bad terms certainly within the Rebels motorcycle outlaw gang themselves,” he said.

“I’ve got little doubt that there’s a lot of friction among gangs because of heightened police activity, and we have seized lots of drugs, money and firearms.”

Martin was shot by a sniper as he watched a street racing meet. Picture: Channel 10

Martin’s death comes just two weeks after he was bashed at a Scarborough bar, allegedly by a Hells Angel.

CCTV showed the two greeting each other with an amicable handshake before a violent clash broke out.

Rebels bikie gang founder Alex Vella, who in 2014 had his Australian visa cancelled while visiting his birthplace, Malta, said he was outraged on a social media post.

“To be taken so cowardly in front of his wife, children and grandchildren is absolutely abhorrent,” he wrote.

Raids have been conducted at the Mongols and Hells Angels clubhouses, and at a Shoalwater home linked to an alleged bikie associate.

A 33-year-old Mongols member was charged with possessing cocaine with intent to sell/supply and a 30-year-old man was charged with breaching a post-sentence supervision order.

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Originally published as Victoria police join hunt for Rebels bikie boss Nick Martin’s killer