Shooting victim Ahmad Al-Azzam’s brother shares heartfelt message

The brother of a man killed in a Sydney gangland shooting last week has delivered an emotional tribute to the 25-year-old in a confronting video taken in the hearse with his sibling’s coffin.

The brother of a man killed in the crossfire of a gangland shooting last week has delivered a heartbreaking message in a video recorded while accompanying his slain sibling’s coffin on its way to its final resting place.

In a two-minute video posted online on Thursday night, Ahmad Al-Azzam’s brother can be seen in the hearse, with his brother in a coffin behind him, speaking about the impact of his death.

The video was taken after Mr Al-Azzam’s funeral on Thursday as his remains were being driven from the Lakemba mosque to the Rookwood Cemetery.

Mr Al-Azzam, 25, died three days after being shot in the early hours of the morning on a Greenacre street last week.

“Death has no time and it will come to you at any time, it doesn’t mean if you’re young you say ‘I’ll repent later, I’ll repent tomorrow’,” Mr Al-Azzam’s brother said.

The video showed the brother of Ahmad Al-Azzam, speaking for the first time in the hearse carrying his brother's coffin before his burial at Rookwood on Thursday.

“Look what’s happening, my brother was 25 he had his future in front of him, I was overseas when I (last) spoke to him.

“He was talking to me about starting a business and doing his own future and getting married, he didn’t make it and two weeks later I heard the news and he passed away.

The 25-year-old was one of five people shot last week and the 22nd person to die as a result of the war over Sydney’s drug trade since 2020.

“Death has no time, it will just come to you when your time comes.”

Mr Al-Azzam was one of three people who sustained bullet wounds the night an unknown gunman fired multiple shots into his car.

He had no criminal record and police are investigating why he would have been targeted.

His family have also set up a fundraiser in a bid to build a learning centre and a water well overseas in his name.

He was laid to rest after a touching traditional Islamic ceremony on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire

His loved ones are raising money for an education centre named in his memory. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Mr Al-Azzam was the 22nd victim of Sydney’s gangland war last week before drug importer Ferenc David Stemler was shot dead days later in Canterbury.

A man and a woman who were also injured in the same shooting as Mr Al-Azzam have spent the past week in hospital after sustaining serious injuries.

The same week, criminal lawyer Mahmoud Abbas was also shot leaving his Greenacre home.

In the wake of the violence police formed task-force Magnus to look into the shootings and several gangland murders from this year.

More than 100 officers are now part of the crack unit who on Monday revealed they had charged three people with a range of offences after a weekend blitz on organised crime figures.

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