Community urged to be vigilant amid ‘reckless’ killings
Max Aldred |
Everyday citizens should be vigilant after two seemingly innocent men were gunned down, with an acting premier insisting police are on top of the situation.
A day after a young university student was shot dead in his family’s southwest Sydney home, a man in his 40s was gunned down outside a west Sydney duplex where it is believed he was working on Wednesday afternoon.
It is at least the fifth suspected mistaken identity since May 2025, with fears reckless overseas criminal leaders are worsening the potentially misguided attacks.
Despite that statistic, the state’s acting premier – Prue Car – insisted the situation was under control.
“NSW Police are on top of this,” she told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
“The government will continue to resource them and do whatever is required to make sure we are on top of this organised crime.”
Jason Box, the commander of a taskforce tackling organised violence, warned the community to stay on guard.
“We ask that people be vigilant if they see a car that shouldn’t be in their street, let us know if they see people sitting in a car, let us know if they see people driving at night,” he told Sydney radio 2GB.
“We have 60 police in uniform, driving around 24/7 at targeted areas … plus all the investigators and the intelligence.”
He said organised crime in Sydney was under control from afar – including leaders making calls from overseas – making law enforcement’s job difficult.
“The reality is they are reckless.”
NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane told reporters Sydney was supposed to be a safe, secure and free city.
“It doesn’t feel like that anymore… people are concerned, they’re frighened,” she said.
A car containing a number of individuals pulled up alongside a Merrylands West home on Bruce Street about 3.15pm on Wednesday.
CCTV footage widely shared and under police investigation shows an Audi pulling alongside the house as a passenger leant out the rear window to open fire.
Shots struck the victim, who is yet to be formally identified, moments after he arrived with a male resident and two young children.
While the home owners were very well known to police for organised crime links, the victim was not, Detective Superintendent Simon Glasser.
The occupants’ children were in the home at the time, he said as he labelled the shooting “highly dangerous and reckless”.
A day earlier, multiple attackers entered a two-storey home in Glen Alpine, near Campbelltown in southwest Sydney, about 3.40am on Tuesday.
They then shot 23-year-old Marco Tapia dead in his bedroom as his family were home.
The young man was not known to police and had nothing more than a traffic offence on his record.
His killers remain at-large.
Police confirmed detectives are exploring the possibility attackers were mistaken in their targets on both occasions.
They are also investigating whether the shootings are linked.
An online post in the wake of Mr Tapia’s death suggested an ongoing feud may be connected to the incidents.
An exiled alleged underworld identity posted to social media early on Tuesday that the perpetrators had mistaken their target.
”Popped the wrong person. Didn’t even get the right house,” Iziah Utai, alleged co-founder of the Coconut Cartel, wrote.
He returned on Wednesday to add: ”RIP Marco. #innocentvictim”.
The Alameddine network, a notorious crime family, and the Coconut Cartel, an emerging crime-for-hire network, have allegedly become embroiled in a feud, spilling into shootings across Sydney in recent months.
AAP