By Fergus Hunter
The death toll continues to climb for the besieged Hamzy crime family after a third senior member fell victim to gangland tensions that have escalated on Sydney’s streets since late 2020.
Ghassan Amoun, brother of notorious Brothers for Life founder Bassam Hamzy, was shot dead in a daylight attack in South Wentworthville on Thursday afternoon, triggering renewed police focus on a violent underworld feud linked to a series of shootings and assaults.
Police at the scene of the killing of Ghassan Amoun in South Wentworthville on Thursday.Credit: Brook Mitchell
Police, including detectives from the homicide squad and criminal groups squad, are investigating after Amoun, 35, was shot multiple times on Rawson Road at the intersection of the Great Western Highway about 12.45pm.
He had just left the Laser Lady beauty clinic on the highway, where he had an appointment days after being released from a short prison sentence he served for breaching a court order controlling his activities.
After being called to the location, NSW Ambulance paramedics found Amoun injured in a vehicle parked on the street and provided emergency assistance but he died at the scene.
Initial inquiries by police have indicated a Mini Cooper found alight on a nearby street was used in the attack, the same method seen in a slew of recent gangland shootings in which a getaway car was torched before attackers switched to another vehicle.
The Mini Cooper appears to be one stolen from a home in Warrawee in October last year. The car was among a handful of vehicles publicly listed by police in November as stolen by crime syndicates for suspected use in shootings and other serious offending.
“The shooting is quite obviously targeted. Obvious connections to criminal networks are [being investigated],” acting Superintendent Glen Fitzgerald of the Cumberland Police Area Command said.
A burnt-out car was found after Ghassan Amoun was shot dead in South Wentworthville on Thursday.Credit: Nine News
“Police have for a number of months now been targeting a number of [criminal] networks and that will be ongoing throughout the investigation.”
Amoun was said to be alone and targeted by a shooter in dark clothing in the “very brutal attack” as he got into his vehicle on Thursday.
He has been subject to a sweeping court order restricting his movements, communications and finances after police accused him of being an influential figure in a violent underworld feud between the Hamzy network and the rival Alameddines. Police have alleged in court the conflict is linked to the illicit drug trade.
The Hamzys have suffered heavy losses, with Amoun’s brother Mejid Hamzy killed in October 2020 and their cousin, Bilal Hamze, killed in the Sydney CBD in June 2021.
Police believe Ibrahem Hamze, another senior family member, is lucky to be alive after officers discovered would-be killers near his address in North Sydney in August.
Salim Hamze, 18, and his father, Toufik Hamze, 64, were killed in October. They were not close relatives of the central crime family that uses variations of a common surname.
A number of homes linked to the Hamzy and Alameddine families have been sprayed with bullets over the past 18 months.
Amoun was repeatedly warned by police about the grave threat he faced from gangland rivals, the Herald first reported in June.
He was arrested in February last year for breaching the serious crime prevention order by using multiple mobile phones and failing to notify police of a new car registration. He pleaded guilty and spent time in jail for the offences.
On Thursday, crime scenes were established at the site of the shooting and the torched vehicle.
A number of roads, including Rawson Road and two westbound lanes on the Great Western Highway, were closed and drivers were urged to avoid the area.
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