Milperra massacre

Milperra massacre
Date 2 September 1984 Location Milperra, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 33°56′35″S 150°59′52″E / 33.94306°S 150.99778°E / -33.94306; 150.99778Coordinates: 33°56′35″S 150°59′52″E / 33.94306°S 150.99778°E / -33.94306; 150.99778 Result 63 murder convictions 147 manslaughter convictions
Belligerents
Comancheros	Bandidos
Strength
19	34
Casualties and losses
4 dead	2 dead
1 dead bystander 28 wounded

The Milperra Massacre, Milperra bikie shoot-out or Father's Day Massacre was a firearm battle between rival motorcycle gang members on 2 September (Father's Day in Australia) 1984, in Milperra, a south-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. The shootout had its roots in an intense rivalry that developed after a group of Comancheros broke away and formed the first Bandidos Motorcycle Club chapter in Australia. Seven people were killed and twenty-eight injured when the two groups clashed at Milperra. The event was a catalyst for significant changes to gun laws in New South Wales.

Police believe that the war began over turf or drugs or a combination of both. However, both clubs at that time had a strong no drugs policy and Colin "Caesar" Campbell, Sergeant-at-Arms of both Comanchero Chapters and Sergeant-at-Arms of the Bandidos after they were patched over, points to the acrimony of the split as the sole reason. According to Campbell, in late 1983, one of his brothers and another Comanchero had called on another member and caught the Comancheros' president (and founder) William George "Jock" Ross, in a compromising position with the member's wife. As Sergeant-at-Arms, he ordered Ross to face charges of breaking one of the 10 firm rules the club observed. If found guilty, Ross would have been expelled from the club. Ross failed to appear at the first two scheduled meetings and, after arriving at the third, simply announced that the club would be split into two chapters and walked out. Those who supported bringing charges against Ross, the six Campbell brothers, the three McElwaine brothers, Anthony "Snodgrass" Spencer (Snoddy) and Charles "Charlie" Sciberras remained at the Birchgrove clubhouse that overlooked Yurulbin Park while Ross and the remaining Comancheros set up a new clubhouse in Harris Park.

During the club's 1983 Christmas run fighting broke out between the two Chapters, prompting the Birchgrove chapter to break away and form a new club. Spencer had visited several outlaw clubs in America two years earlier and remembered how much respect U.S Bandidos showed to him, so he contacted their National President Ronnie Hodge. After much correspondence, he received approval to form the first Australian Bandidos chapter and become its national president. The new Bandidos members then incinerated their Comanchero colours in a ceremonial act. Clubhouse attacks and other violence continued until August when Campbell alleged that Spencer and Ross "declared war" in a phone call.

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