Man charged after Picket Fence Cafe in Ivanhoe East sprayed with bullets in drive-by shooting

A Thomastown man has been charged after an Ivanhoe East cafe was sprayed with bullets in an early morning drive-by shooting.

A man who allegedly fired six bullets into a suburban cafe in Melbourne’s north has been charged by police.

Embona Taskforce Detectives arrested a 36-year-old Thomastown man on Monday who they will allege stopped in front of the Picket Fence Cafe at Ivanhoe East before firing half a dozen bullets into the shop’s front windows earlier this month.

The man has been charged with damaging property with a firearm, using a firearm in a dangerous manner and using a firearm in a public place among others.

No one was at the cafe at the time of the alleged shooting.

Mill Park Embona detective Steven Smith said the use of illegal firearms has “absolutely no place in our community”.

Picket Fence Cafe was targeted in a drive-by shooting on Sunday morning. Picture: Athos Sirianos

Six bullet holes were fired into the Picket Fence cafe in Ivanhoe East on Sunday morning. Picture: Athos Sirianos

“We have a dedicated team of investigators at Mill Park Embona who will continue to work tirelessly to hold people to account for these crimes,” he said.

The Thomastown man will appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday afternoon.

Several shots were fired into the cafe on Lower Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe East, about 6am on Sunday, May 5.

Six bullet holes could be seen on the cafe’s front windows.

The cafe was closed at the time and no one was injured during the incident.

The cafe’s owner Fidel Takla said “no one would expect this to happen in Ivanhoe East”.

“I had missed calls that woke me up … I couldn’t believe what I heard and I just don’t understand why (this happened),” he said.

“There’s no reason why this would happen here all I do is come here to work, watch footy and play video games.”

The six shots into the cafe were fired out of a “dark-coloured sedan” just before 6am before it fled the scene.

It is unknown if the attack was targeted.

Sergeant Stephanie Miller said several witnesses had come forward to police and that the local community was “shocked” by the incident.

“Ivanhoe East is a quiet area so for this to happen here is quite big,” she said.

Originally published as Man charged after Picket Fence Cafe in Ivanhoe East sprayed with bullets in drive-by shooting