CCTV of fatal gym shooting execution released

Chilling vision from the moment a masked gunman executed Taha Sabbagh has he sat in his car outside a Western Sydney gym has been released.

Video has been released of the moment a man is gunned down outside a gym in Sydney’s west.

The chilling vision comes from CCTV cameras at a business across the road from Elite Fight Force gym in Sefton, about 23km west of Sydney’s CBD, where 40-year-old Taha Sabbagh was killed in front of his 12-year-old son on Thursday morning.

In the footage, obtained by Nine News, Mr Sabbagh’s black Mercedes four-wheel-drive pulls up to the gates of the martial arts gym on Carlingford St about 6.30am.

His son gets out of the car to open the gate before Mr Sabbagh drives in and parks.

About 90 seconds later, a man in a dark top and grey pants jumps out of an idling Mazda 3 SUV nearby, runs up to Mr Sabbagh’s car, and fire three rounds through the windshield before approaching the driver’s-side window and firing another three.

The CCTV images captured from a business across the road from Elite Fight Force gym shows the man in grey pants fire six shots.

The brutal killing was carried out in front of Taha Sabbagh's 12-year-old son, who was wearing a red top.

He flees and jumps in the Mazda as Mr Sabbagh’s son rushes around from the car’s passenger-side and stares in disbelief at what’s just happened.

Mr Sabbagh died at the scene, and his son wasn’t harmed, while a Mazda 3 – believed to be the one involved in the shooting – was found burned out in nearby Birrong.

The shooting may have have been retaliation for the kidnapping of a high-profile Sydney businessman, sources claim.

Underworld sources told The Daily Telegraph Mr Sabbagh’s killing was likely to be a payback hit for an extraordinary attack in 2022 where a jeweller was kidnapped and tortured for almost 24-hours, and only released when a ransom rumoured to be close to $10 million ransom was paid.

While there is no suggestion Mr Sabbagh was directly behind the kidnapping, sources said the shooting - whether he was the intended target or not - was a “warning sign” to criminal group members, some of whom attend the gym.

Mr Sabbagh (left) with Russian internet star Hasbulla Magomedov. Picture: Instagram

Mr Sabbagh’s casket being carried by mourners at his funeral on Friday. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Mr Sabbagh was laid to rest in a funeral at Lakemba Mosque on Friday attended by dozens of mourners, with police patrolling the area around the service.

The NSW Police investigation continues, amid speculation the execution could have been a case of mistaken identity.

Elite Fight Force closed on Thursday as forensic police examined the scene but has since reopened.

Originally published as CCTV of fatal gym shooting execution released