Walsh Street police shootings
The Walsh Street police shootings was the execution style murder of Victoria Police Officers Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre who were gunned down in Walsh Street, South Yarra, Australia on October 12 1988.
The officers were murdered in the early hours of the morning after responding to a call about a car abandoned in the middle of Walsh Street.
Police believe members of a Melbourne Underworld gang had organised the murders. In the two year period up to April 1989 there were eleven fatal shootings by police. The execution style killings of the two police officers was thought by to have been a pay back by prominent members of the Melbourne underworld.
Ty-Eyre task force
The police investigation, named the Ty-Eyre task force after the two officers killed, was the biggest investigation Victoria Police had ever undertaken at the time and also the longest running, spanning 895 days. At the height of the investigation, police had hundreds of officers assigned to the task force to invesitigate the murders.
The home of Victor Peirce was raided the day following the shootings. Pierce's house was demolished and the backyard dug up in the search for evidence.
The Flemington Crew
Police investigations revealed the shotgun used to perform the murders was the same weapon used in an attempt to blast open a bank door during a robbery the State Bank in Oak Park in early 1988 seven months earlier.
A gang police dubbed The Flemington Crew had robbed at least four Melbourne banks. The robbers bungled the Oak Park robbery and left shotgun shells at the scene. The shells became the single forensic link police had.
The Trial
All 4 men charged with the murders, Victor Peirce,Trevor Pettingill, Anthony Farrell and Peter McEvoy were later aquitted.
Timeline of relevant events
- March 25, 1987 - Mark Militano is shot dead by Victoria Police.
- June ,1987 - Frank Valastro is shot dead by Victoria Police.
- October 1, 1988 - Hai Foong Yap was shot by Steven Tynan during a robbery, ending up a paraplegic
- October 11, 1988 - Graeme Jensen is killed
- October 12, 1988 - Walsh Street killings occur
- November 17, 1988 - Jedd Houghton shot dead by police in a Bendigo caravan park.
- April 9, 1989 - Gary Abdallah is shot and killed by Victoria Police after allegedly pulling an imitation pistol on detectives.
- May 1, 2002 - Victor Peirce shot dead in Bay Street, Port Melbourne in drive-by shooting.