Former Hells Angels member shot to death

Homicide detectives are looking for a Silver Dodge Ram pickup truck and the gunmen who shot and killed a former member of the Hells Angels biker club on an East Hamilton street early Saturday. Melissa Raftis has more.

James Louis Malone was shot when he was walking his dogs on Kenilworth Avenue near Hope Avenue, just before 1:30 Saturday morning.

A witness says a man with a shotgun fired at Malone from out of a truck. He was shot at more than once. The witness says the gunman then walked over to the man who was lying prone on th sidewalk, stood over Malone and shot him in the head. Police have confirmed Malone had an extensive criminal record and sources who say they knew him have told CHCH he was an ex-Hells Angels member and was kicked out of the club a couple of years ago but wouldn’t say why.

Toronto Star reporter Peter Edwards has written extensively about organized crime over the past couple of decades. He says, at 49-years old, Malone was quite young to have left the Hells Angels. He says when someone leaves the club, even in bad standing it’s like they’re shunned from the group which means Malone would not have had their protection: “The fact that he wasn’t a member showed that someone wasn’t clearly all that worried about him. I mean, if you killed a current Hells Angels, you’d be wise to leave town fairly quickly. If you kill someone who is street gang or independent in a way so what. So what it shows is a real lack of fear. A very pronounced lack of fear. It is safe to say if he was in the Hells Angels this wouldn’t have happened very lightly at all.”

Police have not released descriptions of the suspects in the shooting, but have said Malone was targeted and there is no threat to public safety.