Police weren't taking any chances at the funeral for Kensington shooting victim Ben Togiai. / 7 News
A Kiwi man shot dead outside a boxing match in Melbourne has been farewelled at a ceremony with hundreds of friends and family.
Ben Togiai, 33, a Samoan-Kiwi brought up in South Auckland, was shot dead outside a boxing event at Melbourne Pavilion, in Kensington, about 10pm on March 1.
Two other men who were with Togiai, including Omar Bchinnati, were also shot but survived.
Hundreds gathered at a church in Melbourne yesterday to farewell the husband and father of a 3-year-old daughter.
But not even his funeral was off limits, with police carrying out regular patrols around the church following threats of further violence, 7 News Melbourne reported.
Ben Togiai, a Samoan-Kiwi, was brought up in South Auckland. Photo / Facebook
Despite their presence, guests sent Togiai off with an emotionally charged haka that "may have been enough to keep the enemies of Ben Togiai and his loved ones at bay" 7 News said.
A family member, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Herald over 1000 people attended the service .
Togiai's alleged killers Abdullah El Nasher and Mikhael Myko were arrested in Sydney last Friday night after the pair fled Victoria in the wake of the shooting.
Video footage shows that during the arrest, Nasher jumped from the seventh floor balcony of an apartment block.
It is believed he suffered two broken ribs and a punctured lung. His lawyer Ahmed Dib alleges his injuries were caused by police, not the fall, 7 News reported.
27-year-old Nasher has been charged with one count of murder.
Abdullah El Nasher, 27, Ali El Nasher, 28, and Mikhael Myko, 25. Photo / Supplied
His alleged accomplice Mikhael Myko appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Tuesday and was remanded on one charge each of attempted murder and intentionally causing serious injury.
Nasher's older brother, 28-year-old Ali El Nasher, remains on the run, along with an unidentified fourth man.
Prosecutor Madeleine Sargent said the shooting was allegedly the result of ongoing rivalry between two groups.
The shooting is one of five fatal gun crimes across Melbourne in less than two weeks.
Earlier this week, Togiai's parents Ruth and Faatau Togiai said they will eventually forgive their sons killers.
"To me I forgive them. I follow what Jesus Christ says," Faatau said.
They revealed to 7 News that they had received threats of more violence as they prepared for their son's funeral.
"If anybody learns anything from this please learn don't use guns," his mother Ruth Togiai said in an exclusive interview.
Ruth talked about how Togiai's 3-year-old daughter will never "have her daddy there to take her to school on her first time".
"She will never have her daddy to run around the house playing hide-and-go-seek like they did, rolling around on the carpet tickling each other, playing. My granddaughter won't have that," she said.
Ruth is currently battling cancer and had to return to hospital for treatment the day after her son's funeral.
"I'm so glad that these boys have not been killed by anybody. That nobody has tried to retaliate because we don't want that," she told 7 News.
