Dash cam shows dramatic escape of Toyota HiLux after Sydney underworld shooting at Granville intersection

Dashcam footage shows a Toyota HiLux mount a median strip and attempt to flee after a daylight shooting left two fighting for life — with one not expected to survive. Police say any of the four men in the car could have been the target.

Granville shooting escape attempt yesterday afternoon. This video footage shows the white vehicle that was shot at trying desperately to escape, even crossing over the median strip on Woodville Rd before heading back to Church St.

An Alameddine associate shot in a brazen daylight shooting in Parramatta on Sunday is “not expected to survive”, NSW Police have said as they escalate a manhunt for those responsible for the attack.

Dawood Zakaria, 32, was shot in the head as he sat in the passenger seat of a Toyota HiLux driving through the intersection of Woodville Rd and Church St on Sunday night, in an attack that also saw solicitor Sylvan Singh, 25, shot in the upper body.

The other two men in the car, Samimjan Azari, 26, and Levi Vitukawalu, 28, were not injured.

Zakaria was taken to hospital and placed on life support, but State Crime Command Criminal Groups Squad boss Jason Box said police did not expect him to survive.

Dashcam footage obtained by The Daily Telegraph captured the frantic efforts of the white Toyota HiLux to escape in the immediate aftermath of the shooting attack.

The footage shows the bullet-riddled ute swerving wildly and crossing the median strip on Woodville Rd near Granville, weaving briefly into oncoming lanes before turning back onto Church St just minutes after the gunfire erupted.

The vehicle’s erratic movements through traffic offer a glimpse into the chaos that followed the brazen attack at 5.10pm in the busy intersection beneath the M4 overpass.

Zakaria is known to have associations to the Alameddine crime clan, but is not regarded as a member of the crime group.

Underworld sources said Zakaria and Singh were likely not the intended targets of the shooting, but on Monday morning Superintendent Box told media that his review of the incident was that it was a “targeted and directed” attack at the people in the car.

“I believe … everyone in that vehicle was potentially an intended target,” he said.

Solicitor Sylvan Singh was shot in the arm and leg.

When asked whether any of the occupants had been potential targets before this attack, Supt Box confirmed Zakaria had previously survived another targeted shooting earlier this year at Brighton-Le-Sands.

Supt Box said police haven’t had the chance to speak to Mr Singh, however, he is known to police “for his association of who he represents”.

WILD ESCAPE 

Speaking on the timeline of the incident, Supt Box said “straight after the shooting, that vehicle has mounted the median strip and travelled in the other direction to flee the scene”.

“That’s when it came to a stop and police attended and assisted the driver who’d been shot and also the front passenger,” he said.

While acknowledging there had been a number of recent shootings in Sydney, Supt Box said police were “putting numerous resources” into addressing this issue.

“There’s been other occasions where organised crime have committed similar offences and the police have been very productive and proactive in stopping this,” he said.

“Our responses were not just to the shooting, but also in disruptive measures, using legislation that’s available to us.”

The gory scene of the shootings. Picture: Supplied

CHARGES AFTER GUN FOUND IN CAR

In the wake of the attack, police and emergency crews flooded the intersection, detaining two other men at the scene and cordoning off the area as part of an ongoing investigation.

Police found a gun inside the HiLux that was allegedly shot at.

Azari and Vitukawalu have since both been charged with possessing an unauthorised pistol and acquiring a pistol subject to a firearms prohibition order, and will both face Parramatta Local Court today.

CAR ABLAZE

A short time after the attack, fire crews responded to a car blaze in nearby Merrylands — suspected to be a torched getaway vehicle, a method commonly used in underworld violence.

Samimjan Azari, who was inside the car that was shot at, is led away from the crime scene at Granville under the M4 overpass. He has since been charged with firearm offences. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Levi Vitukawalu was charged with firearm offences. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Later on Sunday night, two other vehicles a Mazda sedan at Warren Rd in Wood Park and an Audi at Goliath St in Winston Hills, were found burnt out.

NSW Police detectives, including officers from the State Crime Command’s Raptor Squad, are investigating the incident and ongoing tensions in the Alameddine network.

Despite earlier hopes that internal disputes with them and associate crew the “KVT” had cooled in recent weeks, police are worried the latest violence suggests otherwise.

The white Toyota HiLux riddled with bullet holes is looked over by police. Picture: Liam Mendes

Police sources have voiced concern that the re-emergence of tit-for-tat shootings could once again destabilise Sydney’s criminal landscape.

“This is not at all what we want,” one officer said. “You’ve seen what shootings like this can do — it’s very concerning.”

Police are urging anyone with information or dashcam footage from the area to come forward.

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Originally published as Dash cam shows dramatic escape of Toyota HiLux after Sydney underworld shooting at Granville intersection