Police claim passer-by foiled getaway plan for man who allegedly shot 9yo girl

The getaway plan of a man charged with shooting a nine year-old girl went awry when police ­allege a brave passer-by confronted him, forcing him to try to escape across the Georges River.

The getaway plan of a man charged with shooting a young girl went awry when police ­allege a brave passer-by confronted him and forced him to try to escape across the Georges River.

Police say Mahmoud Rizk was allegedly dripping wet when they arrested him little more than an hour after a nine-year-old girl was shot outside her family’s Connells Point home in a case of mistaken identity about 5.50pm on July 8.

That girl, whose father allegedly has links to the former Brothers 4 Life street gang and is believed by police to have been the intended target, will likely have lifelong injuries, with sources saying she was shot through the sciatic nerve and may struggle to walk, along with other ­potentially lifelong injuries.

NSW Police Detective Superintendent Grant Taylor said on Saturday that Rizk and his associate allegedly fled the scene in a black BMW which they then burnt out, before trying to get into a red Mini Cooper that had sat ready on Annette St in Oatley “for several days” before the shooting.

But The Daily Telegraph can reveal police will allege the pair abandoned their plan when a local confronted them as they went to get into the Mini Cooper. They then instead tried to flee on foot.

Police allege this red Mini sat ‘for several days’ in an Oatley street as a potential getaway car. Picture: Jonathan Ng

NSW Police swarmed the area, with local officers, the dog squad and a Polair helicopter ­descending on the suburb.

Police allege that Rizk found his way to the banks of the Georges River and attempted a ­watery getaway. Forced to turn back. he was eventually arrested on Neville St, in Oatley, about 7.15pm.

Detectives continued to des­cend on the area in the days following the shooting and discovered a gun near the Oatley Pleasure Grounds.

A source said the weapon had only two rounds left in it.

“We honestly have no idea what the reason behind it (the shooting) is,” one officer said.

“They tried to target him (the girl’s father) last year, too, but shot the house across the road by mistake.”

More than a dozen men have been killed in targeted shootings across Sydney in the past 20 months, with many attacks ­following the same modus ­operandi.

“We have refined our art, we hope to think that this is something that will happen more regularly, where we will arrest people very soon after the events,” Det Supt Taylor said.

Charged with one count of shoot at with intent to murder, Rizk faced Parramatta Local Court on Thursday but did not apply for bail.