Bikie turned boxer survives targeted shooting

Callum GoddeAAP
Camera IconArmed crime squad members combed Suleiman "Sam" Abdulrahim's Melbourne property for clues. (Diego Fedele/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP

A former Mongols bikie has survived a second assassination attempt as police investigate two cars being set alight in the minutes before.

Multiple shots were fired at Suleiman "Sam" Abdulrahim, a professional boxer who goes by the name "The Punisher", as he left his Thomastown home early on Friday morning.

Police said the 32-year-old man was not wounded and no arrests have been made.

Bullet casings were strewn on the road outside the security camera-clad home as armed crime squad members combed for clues.

Two cars were set alight on Barrow Street in Brunswick about 15 minutes before the 3am shooting, with police probing whether the fires are linked to the attack.

Read more...

"Police believe both incidents were targeted and the investigation remains ongoing," a police spokeswoman said.

It is the second shooting attempt in as many years on the former bikie, who was ambushed in his Mercedes as he was leaving a funeral in Fawkner in June 2022.

He suffered four bullet wounds to his chest but managed to drive to a nearby police station to seek help.

Two suspects fled the country within 48 hours of the attack.

Abdulrahim was due to fight at the Furlan Club at Thornbury in Melbourne's north on February 24, before the venue was set alight.

He was jailed for more than three years in 2018 after killing a grandmother in a crash.

Abdulrahim was released on parole in 2019 with time served, but had it revoked six months later by the parole board.

He spent 72 days in custody, including 35 days in solitary confinement, because of concerns he was in danger.

The board's decision was later overturned by a Victorian Supreme Court judge, who found Abdulrahim had done nothing to warrant his parole being revoked.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails