Man killed in Sefton gym drive-by shooting identified as Taha Sabbagh
The son of a man killed in a hail of bullets outside a gym in Sydney’s southwest was heard screaming for help after the execution.
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A teenage boy screamed for help as his father lay dying on the ground outside a western Sydney gym after a fatal drive-by shooting.
Taha Sabbagh, 40, was shot up to 10 times as he sat in the driver’s seat of his black Mercedes SUV while dropping his son to a personal training appointment at Elite Fight Force gym in Sefton about 6.30am on Thursday.
He died at the scene.
A worker at a nearby business who heard the shots and ran across the road to help told The Daily Telegraph Mr Sabbagh’s teenage son was in the car with him at the time of the attack.
“All I heard was a young guy screaming: ‘Help me, help me, my dad’s been shot’,” the witness said.
Witnesses said they saw one gunman get out of the car and open fire, before jumping back into the getaway vehicle where a driver was waiting.
One worker from a nearby business took Mr Sabbagh’s son into his workshop, gave him water and tissues, and comforted him until police arrived.
Police and underworld sources said it was possible Mr Sabbagh was shot mistakenly and is an innocent victim, despite being friends with some known identities in the crime world.
His death ends an underworld ceasefire of more than six months on Sydney’s streets.
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Later on Thursday, a car was reported ablaze at nearby Birrong train station.
It’s not yet known if it was connected to the shooting.
A witness who heard the shooting said they ran to the gym car park where they found Mr Sabbagh’s body lying face down, with more than 10 bullets in his torso.
Family members and friends flocked to the scene in the hours after the shooting.
A witness told 2GB he heard about 10 bullets fired in the street outside his car workshop.
“I was in the back of the workshop just before 7am and I heard a series of bangs which I was hoping was a car backfiring and as I heard a car speed off there was another series of bangs,” David said.
“I hesitated to go to the front of the workshop obviously and then I slowly walked to the windows and saw people coming out.
“Within minutes there was a load of ambulances, police everywhere and then we saw a man on the ground not in a good way. I’m glad I don’t open the door in the morning.”
There were emotional scenes as more than a dozen relatives and friends arrived at the scene, but were held back by police.
One hysterical woman tried to run through a police corden, yelling: “That’s my nephew, that’s my nephew”.
One hysterical woman tried to run through a police corden, yelling: “That’s my nephew, that’s my nephew”.
An exclusion zone has been established near the gym with Carlington St near Helen St blocked off in both directions.
An exclusion zone has been established near the gym with Carlington St near Helen St blocked off in both directions.
A personal trainer at the gym said the fitness centre is not normally open at that time except for pre-booked training appointments.
In an Instagram story on Thursday morning, Elite Fight Force gym said: “Asalamu Alaykum — We are very sorry for any inconvenience, Elite Fight Force will be closed today and all classes will be cancelled for the day,” the statement read.
“Please bear with us and stay updated without our stories for any new announcement. Thank you.”
An employee from a business neighbouring the scene said he heard gunfire but didn’t see the shooting.
“There was a shooting but I saw nothing, I heard it but didn’t see anything,” he said. “We’re all OK.”
Another business owner, who has a store 200m from the scene of the shooting, said he was going to close up shop at 10am if the street didn’t clear out.
The shop typically trades until 4pm.
“Is it normal to find someone dead outside your place of work? That’s not normal,” he said.
NSW Police Homicide Squad Commander Danny Doherty said he was “sickened” when he heard of the man, who was not on their radar, was shot dead in front of his own child.
“It’s a sickening feeling,” Detective Superintendent Doherty said.
“While he was not well known to police, he was associated to people who are well known to police and have strong criminal activity connected to them.
“It bears the hallmarks of an organised crime related murder.
“However that still doesn’t mitigate how poor this is, having a 12-yearr-old boy having to witness this.”
Mr Sabbagh’s death comes more than six months after the last organised crime related shooting on Sydney’s streets, the killings of Lametta Fadlallah and Amy Hazzouri.
Det Supt Doherty said while investigations was in its early hours, there was no evidence of Thursday’s shooting being linked to any ongoing conflict.
“At this stage there is no evidence about it being connected to any other previous conflicts that have plagued Sydney in the last 18 months to two years,” he said.
“We are treating this as an isolated incident, we will keep an open mind about this, but there is no evidence of any connections or links to other conflicts that have happened in the past.”
Det Supt Doherty said detectives believe they are hunting two gunmen who used a Mazda 3 as their getaway car, before it was later found burnt out in a nearby suburb.
Specialist forensic police have established a crime scene around the gym.
Local detectives, with the assistance of the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad are investigating the incident.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000
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