Fatal drive-by shooting just metres from busy shopping strip

Georges Hall fatal drive-by shooting just metres from busy shopping strip

James Taylor, Jack Houghton and Laura Banks, Canterbury-Bankstown Express
October 25, 2016 11:12am

THE uncle of the man shot dead in a drive-by shooting this morning has told of his shock over the incident in Georges Hall.

The uncle, Hussein, said he was notified of his nephew’s death in Sturt St by the dead man’s aunty.

“I got a call from my sister, saying Hamad’s dead, Hamad’s dead, Hamad’s dead,” he said.

“I don’t know who would do something like this. God’s not going to be happy.”

The victim, gunned down in the driveway of a Georges Hall house just before 9.30am, was a suspect in the gangland hit on Walid ‘Wally’ Ahmad, who was gunned down in the carpark of Bankstown Central in April this year.

The man’s body lies under a sheet in the driveway of a residence at Georges Hall.
Ahmad was killed in a hail of bullets when he was ambushed in the midday attack, where two other bystanders were also shot.
Police believe Ahmad’s killing may have been retribution for the murder of Safwan Charbaji earlier in April outside Ahmed’s smash repair shop in Condell Park.

Walid ‘Wally’ Ahmad was ambushed and shot dead at Bankstown Central in April. Picture: Seven News

CCTV shows the moment Ahmad was shot in the April attack.
State Crime Squad detective inspector Grant Taylor said it was suspected a driver and two shooters were lying in wait for the victim, who was “well known” to police.

He said two shooters got out of a black car, believed to be an Audi 4WD, and fired “multiple” fatal shots.

A visibly distraught man is held back by friends and police at the scene of the fatal shooting.
It is understood the car then fled though the shopping strip car park.
Detective inspector Taylor said the victim’s mother was home at the time.
“She’s hysterical, as she would be, the family is very distraught,” he said.
“This is targeted shooting, it’s not a random shooting ... These people obviously wanted to kill him, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

Visibly distraught men are held back by police at the scene.
The shooting this morning took place just metres from a busy shopping strip.
It is understood the man was found by a neighbour lying in the driveway suffering multiple gunshot wounds at about 9.30am this morning. There are reports he had also been shot in the head.
The man’s body was covered with a white sheet and a large quantity of blood could be seen on the concrete.

Business owners have told of hearing several shots and seeing a black car speed away.
Police could be seen interviewing residents, as a Polair helicopter hovered overhead.
Hairdresser Rose, who owns Tamed Hair metres from the shooting, said she heard gun shots and a saw a black car speed off through the car park moments later.
“It’s pretty frightening, I’m still shaken up. My business is here, I love working here.”
“Nothing normally happens here, but it is bad for the ones that have a family, who are trying to deal with this.”

Forensic personnel collect evidence at the scene.
Raj Gounder, the manager of Pool and Spa warehouse, said he was serving customers when he heard something that sounded like a car backfiring.
“Then a black Audi 4WD just sped off through here,” he said.
“It’s crazy that it would happen somewhere like here.”
Vivian Luu, the manager of Happy Healthy Inn Take Away, said vandals had previously broken glass at some shops but the area was normally quiet.
“I’m shocked, I just say why? I’ve never seen that before.”

Police talk to people at a shopping strip not far from the shooting.
A crime scene has been established and police from the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad are involved in the investigation.
As police converged on the scene people who knew the victim arrived.
The sister of the victim broke down trying to get into the crime scene.
With tears streaming down her face, the woman begged police guarding the scene to let her in.
“Please, he’s my brother,” she said before being told to she could not enter.

Police cordon off the area close to the scene.
The woman ran off towards another distressed person waiting in a car.
A man wearing a hoodie was seen pleading with police to be let into the crime scene shouting the victim was his brother.
Police were also seen leading an older woman from the scene, but it is unclear if she is related to the man.

A visibly upset woman is taken away by police.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...p/news-story/e82e90e1b05aa9a374a1764e27408c87