Durban - A sombre mood fell over Gateway Mall on Thursday as family members and friends came to the gruesome scene where Kalvin Periasamy, the alleged gang boss of the Phoenix street gang, the Bloods was gunned down.
Periasamy who was out on bail for a murder charge was found with multiple gunshot wounds.
"Medics received a report of a shooting at Gateway, when they responded they found an Indian male alone. He was deceased already, so they were unable to help," said Joe Dhanasar, KwaZulu-Natal VIP Operational Commander.
Dhanasar said Periasamy was found in the parking lot, outside Virgin Active gym at around 10am.
According to security sources, Kalvin was a regular at the Gateway Virgin Active gym and always had an entourage with him. For some reason, he had no entourage when he left the gym on Thursday.
A young Indian woman wearing a yellow jersey and blue jeans, identified as Periasamy's wife, was inconsolable standing next to the lifeless body of the deceased.
The deceased's siblings were also at the scene along with about 50 close friends and family, most of them had visible tear drop tattoos on their face.
Police investigate the murder scene of alleged gang boss Kalvin Periasamy. Video: Supplied.
At about 1.30pm the mortuary van finally came to take Periasamy's body away.
Once the body was in the van, the whole family and friends gathered around it, said a short prayer and left. One person, who identified himself as a close friend of the Periasamy said he heard the news over the phone and had to come see for himself.
"Kalvin was like a role model to me. He was a role model to most of the guys here. A good guy, who never worried anyone, all he did was gym and work," said the friend.
Friends of Periasamy said he had a wife and two children, a 12-year-old daughter and 7-year-old boy.
According to eye witnesses who did not want to be named, four Indian males were seen running from the scene of the crime following the shooting.
"Two of them stopped outside the parking and fired shots in the air like they were celebrating," said the source.
Police found a spent bullet cartridge near the parking exit.
The parking at Gateway Mall was cordoned off for much of the day with a heavy police and private security presence.