Sydney underworld identity Tarek Ayoub shot at 30 times by assassins

Police had foiled two recent attempts on Tarek Ayoub’s life, but when hitmen came after him for a third time on Monday, they ensured he would not survive.

Police had foiled two recent attempts on Tarek Ayoub’s life, but when hit men came after him for a third time on Monday, they ensured he would not survive — by shooting him more than 30 times.

Underworld identity Ayoub, who was known as “The Angel of Death”, was gunned down as he left the apartment of a female acquaintance on Harold St at Parramatta about 3.30am on Monday.

When news of his death filtered through to NSW Police, it came as little surprise, not only because he was suspected of playing a role in organising multiple gangland murders in recent years — most notably the shooting of Alen Moradian at Bondi Junction in 2023 — but because they had successfully interrupted two other conspiracies to kill him already this year.

But what did shock police was the nature of Ayoub’s killing, with the two masked gunmen who hopped out of a stolen Audi SUV almost completely emptying the clips of two guns.

Photos of the crime scene outside the unit block where Ayoub died showed yellow evidence markers littering the concrete carpark, each of them pinpointing where the 30 bullet casings had been found — more than two-thirds of which hit Ayoub, their impact even severing body parts.

Underworld figure Tarek Ayoub was shot dead on Monday. Picture: Channel 7

Police investigate the scene of a fatal shooting.

Homicide Squad boss Danny Doherty hinted at the extent of the violent attack on Ayoub at his press conference on Monday.

“It’s a large number of shots that have been fired,” Detective Superintendent Doherty said.

“They definitely meant business, they weren’t taking any risks of missing him and they didn’t miss him.”

State Crime Command detectives investigating Ayoub’s death under Strike Force Juneau have already linked the first getaway car used by the two gunmen to a home invasion on the Central Coast from earlier this year.

Fire and Rescue NSW extinguish a car on fire in Granville, believed to be linked to the execution-style murder of Tarek Ayoub.

Police at the scene of a fatal gangland shooting on Harold St, Parramatta, on Monday. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

They will now work to piece together where that vehicle was stored between the time it was stolen and Ayoub’s death, while also going through evidence seized in a raid at Ayoub’s home at Yagoona on Monday.

Ayoub’s death came less than two months after his brother Najm was charged by police over his alleged involvement in another shooting.

Men believed to be friends and relatives of Tarket Ayoub grieve at the site of the shooting on Monday. Max Mason-Hubers

Najm allegedly dropped shooting victim Thikran Hachem, 23, to Bankstown Hospital in the early hours of June 25 with a bullet wound to the stomach.

It is believed the pair had been travelling together when the car they were in was shot at, but when Najm refused to talk to police about what had happened, they charged him with concealing a serious indictable offence and hindering an investigation.

Najm has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

There is no suggestion Mr Hachem or Najm Ayoub are connected with any crime group.
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Originally published as Sydney underworld identity Tarek Ayoub shot at 30 times by assassins