Tony the Butcher
Forensic police work at the scene of a deadly shooting near the body of Antoine Quilichini, aka Tony the Butcher Getty

KEY POINTS

  • Mobster believed to have been targeted in tit-for-tat shooting at Bastia airport.
  • Fellow suspected gang member also injured in shooting.

A notorious Corsican gangster has been gunned down at an airport on the island, with two others injured in the shooting.

Antoine Quilichini, nicknamed "Tony the Butcher", died at the scene following a suspected tit-for-tat shooting in the car park of Bastia airport.

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Quilichini was convicted in 2016 of conspiring to murder Jean-Claude Colonna, the cousin of Corsican mafia boss Jean-Baptiste Jerome Colonna, reports RFI.

Fellow suspected organised crime member Jean-Luc Codaccioni was also severally injured in the attack.

Codaccioni was on leave from prison for personal reasons after also being convicted of the same offence.

A third man received minor injuries in the shooting, although he is believed not to have been an intended target and was hit by a stray bullet while attempting to flee.

Police have launched a murder investigation and are treating the incident as an "assassination by an organised gang and an attempted assassination by an organised gang".

Officers are hunting for the driver of the getaway vehicle used in the attack. It is believed to be a black Volkswagen.

Quilichini is a known associate of Jean-Luc Germani, the brother-in-law of infamous gang member Richard Casanova who was murdered in 2008.