City shaken after three wounded in daylight shooting
Sam McKeith |
A “shockingly brazen” daylight shooting on a busy Sydney shopping strip has left three people wounded and shaken the city’s sense of safety, authorities concede.
In the latest gangland shooting to rock Sydney, two masked gunmen entered a kebab shop in the western suburb of Auburn just after 1pm on Monday and fired eight shots.
One man, 26, was hit in the arm and shoulder, another yet-to-be-identified male was shot in the face and an innocent bystander – a 50-year-old female shop employee – suffered two torso wounds.
The victims remained in Westmead Hospital on Monday night.
The gunmen tried to enter an office at the back of the shop before fleeing in a black BMW with cloned registration plates, Acting NSW Police Commissioner Peter Thurtell said.
“It is beyond comprehension that three people were shot in a crowded Sydney street in broad daylight, and the resources of the NSW police have already been deployed,” Commander Thurtell said.
“This is an emerging criminal investigation. We are throwing all our possible resources at it.”
The 26-year-old victim was believed to be the subject of two previous attempts on his life, police said.
The man had reported to police on bail an hour before the shooting.
While declining to identify him by name, Commander Thurtell referred to news reports identifying Alameddine crime family associate Samimjan Azari as the target of the attack.
He has reportedly survived shootings at Granville and Brighton-Le-Sands.
In the wake of Monday’s shooting, which took place during Auburn’s busy lunch hour, a crime scene was set up and roads were closed in the area for several hours.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley said some of the best detectives in Australia would work the case as part of Taskforce Falcon, set up in late-May following a series of shootings between warring criminal gangs.
About 100 detectives have joined another 50 officers in the mega task force set up to curb gun violence in the city after eight public shootings in six weeks.
“My message to anyone out there going to be doing these place-based shootings on our streets – the police will get you and they will lock you up for a very long time, as they should,” Ms Catley said.
“It is one thing for criminals to be shooting each other but when innocent people get caught up in this, it is absolutely abhorrent.”
She said her thoughts were with the people injured in Monday’s violence, which had “no place in our community”.
“It’s horrifying, it’s unacceptable and it shakes the sense of safety we all deserve.”
Premier Chris Minns described the shooting as “shockingly brazen” and said “NSW Police Force investigators are already hunting down those responsible”.
“People committing this kind of violence can expect to be arrested, charged, and to spend years inside small jail cells,” Mr Minns said.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman urged action to prevent such shootings from becoming the “new normal”.
“Every community in NSW deserves to feel safe, and we need to come down hard on the criminals who think they can run the show,” Mr Speakman told AAP.
In the most shocking recent public shooting, innocent plumber John Versace was executed in his driveway in a case of mistaken identity.
Police are still searching for the men behind the 23-year-old’s murder on May 19.
AAP
