Hunt for gunman after fatal shooting in Heckenberg, Sydney
AN ARGUMENT over a woman could be at the centre of a fatal Sydney shooting where an innocent man was killed.
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A DISPUTE over a woman could be the reason behind a deadly shooting in south west Sydney that left a motorist dead.
The revelation comes as NSW Police say they have identified a man they want to speak with in connection with the incident that killed an innocent man caught in the crossfire of the argument.
Homicide squad detectives believe Matthew Russell, 28, can help them with their inquiries into the shooting on Friday night. He was last seen driving near Matthew Avenue, Heckenberg, where Qusay Al Mhanawi, 46, was gunned down about 6.30pm.
The dead man had been talking on a mobile phone while sitting in a car parked in a driveway when he was hit by the bullet.
Investigations are continuing, but police believe Mr Mhanawi died after two brothers were shot at by a third man in a fight involving one of their girlfriends.
“The argument appears to be over some sort of issues over a female,” Inspector Paul Fryer said on Saturday.
After he was shot Mr Mhanawi’s car drove into one of the pedestrians, hit one of the brothers breaking his collar bone. The elder brother was uninjured.
He’s been questioned and released, but Insp. Fryer wouldn’t say whether he might be charged later.
Police don’t know where Russell is but say he is known to them and have appealed for anyone who sees him to report it immediately.
“We encourage the public not to approach Mr Russell,” he said. The man has been described a having a solid build with short brown hair and a “Ned Kelly-style beard”.
Police said on Saturday morning that Russell was seen driving a silver 2015 model Holden Commodore with NSW registration CB-62-ZS.
The 20-year-old man hit by the car was in a stable condition in hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Shortly after the shooting last night heavily-armed police surrounded a house in nearby Eucumbene Street where it was thought the gunman was hiding. However when police searched the home it was empty.
Forensic and ballistic teams are at the scene this morning.
Devastated family members told media this morning that Mr Mhanawi was dedicated to his family, who came to Australia from Iraq several years ago.
Neighbours reported hearing five shots.
One man who rushed to the car after hearing them said he saw two shots in the man’s chest and one to his head.
The man, who asked not to be named, told The Daily Telegraph the man had still been alive when he got there and he had given him his work shirt to try to stem the bleeding, but he had looked to be in a bad way, with blood coming out of his mouth.
Relatives of the dead man could last night be seen huddled together near the scene, visibly upset and crying.
An upset woman could be heard threatening revenge.
“Your whole f----ing family is going to f----ing die. That better not be my f----ing kid,” she could be heard saying, Nine News reported.
It wasn’t clear if she was a relative of the shot driver or the pedestrian.
Anyone who has seen Matthew Russell or his vehicle is urged not to approach him but call, but to call triple-0.
andrew.koubaridis@news.com.au
Originally published as Hunt for gunman after fatal shooting in Heckenberg, Sydney
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