Revesby shooting: Panania residents speak of shock, horror of deadly attack

The shock of a deadly gangland hit has reverberated about Panania with a cafe owner worried about losing customers, a mum applying to out-of-area schools and a tradesman worrying about the safety of his neighbour’s kids.

As the number of deadly shootings on the streets of southwest Sydney continue to rise, the degree of separation is shrinking for some residents who are now split on whether they should take their young families out of the area.

The latest shooting took the lives of 48-year old Lametta Fadlallah and friend Amy Hazouri, 39, as they sat in their car outside Ms Fadlallah’s family home in Panania on Saturday night.

A 20-year old man and a 16-year old girl sitting in the car with them survived the shooting.

Speaking near the site of the shooting, Condell Park 23-year old Ahmed said he wasn’t surprised when he heard the news, but his bigger worry was an innocent person being caught up when gangland targets are assassinated.

“It’s kind of normal here. There are always a couple of shootings, and many don’t get reported,” he said.

Lametta Fadlallah was shot and killed on Saturday night. Picture: Facebook

The builder-in-training was living on the same street that Mejid Hamzy was killed in 2020, and keenly understands how a stray bullet can hit anywhere.

Ahmed said he worried about his neighbours’ kids at times, and his own if he decides to start a family.

Police at Panania, where a car was towed away following the shooting. Picture: Monique Harmer

Despite the frequent shootings, he said he still can’t imagine living outside of the Bankstown area, and plans on buying his own house locally.

“When I buy my house one day, it will be around here,” he said.

“I’d still bring my kids up in this area.”

Other young people in the area are less confident it’s where they want their kids to grow up.

Living just around the corner from the scene of the recent shooting, Rebecca Bradley, a 24-year old bartender, has made applications for her children to go to a school out of the area.

“You find out it’s in the most random street, the most random house,” the mother-of-two said.

“You don’t know these people, and it makes you think about who you’re living around.”

It was the presence of the teenager in the car when the shot rung out which shook her the most, making her conscious of who her children will befriend.

“Just think, your teenager has gone off with a friend and their parents, and then that’s happened,” Ms Bradley said. “That’s scary.”

Her mother, Vanessa Bradley, a 54-year old registered nurse, said she doesn’t feel safe to walk around at night anymore after living in the area for 32 years.

“I wouldn’t go down to Panania at night time anymore, personally,” she said. “I just have a feeling I’d be robbed.”

Both agreed they would feel safer with a stronger police presence and patrols at night.

The centre of Panania was quiet this afternoon, locals still in shock at the tragic shooting which took place just around the corner. Picture: Paul Brescia

That line of thinking was mirrored by three local residents chatting outside a Panania coffee shop on Monday, discussing the shooting which had taken place down the road.

Two of them had previously lived on Weston St and moved away when a house across the road was targeted in a shooting.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, they said police are seen in school hours and daylight, but not at night.

None were confident the shootings could be stopped without drastic interventions, and all of them expect more people to be shot and killed in retaliation after the latest killing, worrying about innocent blood being shed through mistaken identity.

Siyamak Sharifnejad owns the Lianna Cafe in Panania, a five-minute drive from the site of the shooting, and said he’s worried the latest shooting will “100 per cent” discourage people from spending time out in the community.

“People walk past the shops faster now,” Mr Sharifnejad said. “They don’t stop.”

The cafe owner experienced violence himself when his shop was robbed by two men with crowbars earlier this month, who attacked him when he showed up to open the store.

He said he doesn’t understand why this would happen in Australia, a country he came to with US$150 15 years ago.

Weapon offences, which include guns and other regulated weapons, have sharply risen in Canterbury-Bankstown over the past 10 years, according to NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

While 294 incidents were recorded in the year to March 2012, 10 years later, in the 12 months to March 2022, offences had risen to 548.

But the rise isn’t too disproportionate when compared to the rest of NSW, and follows similar trends at a state level.

Total weapon offences in NSW rose from 7645 in the March 2011-2012 figures, to 13,982 in the latest release of data.