NEW YORK: The reported crime boss of the New York Mafia's Gambino family, Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali, was gunned down in front of his Staten Island home late on Wednesday, police and media said.
Cali, 53, was fatally shot multiple times to his torso shortly after 9pm local time in front of his home, police said.
Handout photo released on Feb 7, 2008 by Italian Police of crime boss Frank Cali, then suspected of drug trafficking in Sicily and arrested during an operation codenamed "Old Bridge" (Photo:Polizia Italiana/AFP)
Media, including the New York Post, reported that Cali was shot at least six or seven times and also run over by a blue pickup truck driven by the shooter, citing unidentified police sources.
The Gambino crime operation is one of the five historic Italian-American Mafia families in New York, Reuters has previously reported, and it makes money through violence and extortion.
Charges against members of Mafia operations, including Gambino family operatives, have included murder, loan sharking, gambling and illegal drug distribution, Reuters has reported.
The New York Daily News reported in 2008 that Cali was among 62 people arrested on federal racketeering charges and he later pleaded guilty to conspiring to extort money. He served a 16-month sentence.
There was no known motive for the shooting of Cali, a police watch commander told Reuters.
"There are no arrests and the investigation is ongoing," police said in a statement.