Underworld figures fear an all-out bikie war is about to erupt after the Finks boss’s home was targeted in a drive-by shooting while his wife and 11-day-old baby slept inside.
Brent James (BJ) Reker’s home in Frankston, in Melbourne’s south-east, was sprayed with bullets and a car firebombed about 4.40am Thursday.
At least one shooter is on the run following the suspected bikie-related attack.
Finks boss BJ Reker, his wife and their 11-day-old son live in the property and were home at the time
Underworld sources have now warned the shooting could provoke violent retribution from the Finks gang or associates.
They revealed the Thursday morning shooting was not the first time the Finks boss was targeted in recent weeks.
Reker was reportedly approached by about 20 bikies from a rival gang at the Frankston hotel in May, causing a brawl to spill out on to the street, the Herald Sun reported.
Police fearing tensions were escalating then went to the hospital where Reker’s son was born and took him back to the station for questioning.
Police now investigating the drive-by shooting are looking at several avenues but rival bikie gang the Hells Angels are at the top of their list.
At least one gunman is on the run after a Melbourne home was shot up as a one-week-old baby and three adults slept inside in a suspected bikie-related attack
The terrifying drive-by shooting unfolded in Frankston in the city’s south-east at on Thursday morning
Reker has reportedly been behind the re-establishment of the Finks gang after it was torn apart by Victoria Police.
He was brought in to re-build the club after a series of raids weakened the gang in 2015.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia this year, Reker said the gang was cleaned up and ‘The Finks have returned to Victoria’.
‘Bullets went through the targeted house as well as the next door neighbours house,’ the witness who doesn’t want to be named said
Witnesses of Thursday morning’s drive-by shooting in Frankston told Daily Mail Australia the house was ‘shot up and firebombed’.
‘Bullets went through the targeted house as well as the next door neighbour’s house,’ the witness who doesn’t want to be named said.
‘There were cars blowing up out the front as well.’
The front room, where the bikie’s baby sleeps, was targeted by the shooter who aimed at ‘head height’, according to the witnesses.
They claimed the attack was ‘attempted murder’.
Police found a bullet hole through a window of the home, while a vehicle outside had been set on fire
Police found a bullet hole through a window of the home, while a vehicle outside had been set on fire.
A number of Finks bikie gang members were seen outside the property and speaking with police on Thursday morning, according to the Nine Network.
Detectives also reportedly found five bullet casings near the home and a burnt out car about 4km away.
Officers are investigating if the two incidents may be linked.
No one inside the home was injured.
At least one gunman is on the run after a Melbourne home was shot up as a one-week-old baby and three adults slept inside. Police are pictured at the scene
Shots were fired at the home in Frankston in Melbourne’s south-east on Thursday morning
No one inside the home was injured. Police are pictured at the scene on Thursday morning
Inside bikie gang the Finks’ plan to take over Victoria
The Finks bikies announced their homecoming to Melbourne in March, 2018, with boss Reker claiming they had ‘cleaned up’ the club.
Daily Mail Australia was invited into the club’s inner sanctum at a makeshift suburban quarters in Frankston in Melbourne’s south-east on Wednesday to meet national president, BJ.
With tattoos covering nearly every inch of his body, BJ’s broad chest is draped in a heavy gold chain, which matches his gold-plated teeth, as he stands alongside his ‘brothers’ in a humble backyard shed adorned with bikie paraphernalia.
His message was loud and clear: ‘The Finks have returned to Victoria’.
They have enlisted new members from across the country and plan to open four clubhouses, one for each of their new chapters in Frankston, City, Sunsbury North and Cheltenham.
Under pressure from mounting legal fees and police attention ‘brought on by rogue members’, the infamous club all but disappeared from the state three years ago.
But BJ and his ‘no-nonsense’ offsiders – who like him are dressed head-to toe in Finks gear and covered in body art – say they have ‘thrown out’ the past members and are determined to start anew.
The club sees Victoria as an important place to hold territory as it is one of the few states where bikies are ‘afforded their human rights’ without tough consorting laws to ‘drive them underground’.
BJ explained how he had to come across from Perth to take the reins.
‘It took 18 months to get it right – and it was the hardest thing I have ever done – cleaning out the club here,’ he said.
The former Victorian members have been replaced by members from interstate, with new blood and riders from other clubs.
The club now has 54 members in Victoria – and 20 men on their way to getting colours.
But they also expect to attract new recruits from other states, particularly NSW and Queensland, where members have been hit hard by anti-bikie legislation.