Bandidos heavy Toby Mitchell knew it was coming. It was only the time and the place that took him by surprise.
Still recovering from the first attempt on his life, Mitchell, 38, was convinced there would soon be another.
Toby Mitchell before being shot.Credit: ABC News
In the past 10 days, he has told associates he suspected a heavy inside prison was planning to kill him but was confident he would be ready to defend himself when the time came.
But on Friday night, a gunfight was the last thing on his mind. It was the end of the week and time to let his close-cropped hair down. He and a handful of mates started the evening drinking beers in Brunswick, and about 9.30pm headed to Melton in three or four cars to continue socialising at the Bandidos-affiliated Diablos' clubhouse.
Toby Mitchell after being shot.Credit: Craig Abraham
In those circles there is never a shortage of designated drivers when it comes time to change locations. But this time, for a gang that prides itself on remaining alert rather than alarmed, they were surprisingly slack.
When they pulled up outside the fortified club in Norton Drive, they failed to notice a hit crew had been following them.
Immediately, gunmen in two vehicles began shooting, firing at least 30 shots towards Mitchell, peppering the enforcer's car. Mitchell jumped in a second car to escape. His men returned fire in the gun battle, which lasted only a few seconds.
Despite the number of shots fired towards him, Mitchell escaped with just one bullet wound to the right bicep.
The reason for the attack and the identity of the gunmen remain unclear, although senior Bandidos suspect a Middle Eastern gang known to prefer rapid drive-by shooting tactics.
''And they can't f-----g shoot straight,'' one said.
Police recovered cash and drugs at the scene.
Detectives have yet to establish if the attack on Mitchell is part of a larger bikie feud or a personal vendetta. And as is usually the case in matters such as this, the victim isn't talking to them.
The attack was near the clubhouse of another bikie gang, the Satan's Soldiers, but police sources said this group was unlikely to have been involved.
Two injured men were driven to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for treatment, with Mitchell undergoing surgery to his upper arm.
In November 2011, the physically imposing Mitchell, the Bandidos' sergeant-at-arms and a former kickboxer, was near death after he was shot five times outside Doherty's Gym in Brunswick.
He was on life support for weeks, lost a kidney and part of his liver and, when he was finally released, much of his gym-honed muscle tone.
For months he walked with the aid of a cane, but he seems to have returned to rude health, recently flying to Thailand on business.
No one has been charged over the Brunswick shooting, although police believe a member of the notorious jail gang the Prisoners of War was deeply involved.
The shooting comes as police are becoming increasingly concerned at what they see as a policy of aggressive infiltration by bikie clubs into legitimate industries, including debt collecting, nightclub security, heavy haulage and the entertainment sector.
The police Echo taskforce, which investigates outlaw motorcycle gangs, is gathering information on a potential turf war based on the Rebels launching a major recruiting plan to be the dominant gang in Australia. They have been told the Hells Angels, Comancheros and Bandidos are considering joining forces to block the Rebels.
Corrections Victoria says bikie gangs are recruiting inmates to swell their numbers when the prisoners are finally released.
Police are preparing for an influx of interstate bikies, with national runs of the Finks and the Comancheros due to travel through Victoria in the next month.