Manhunt after Taha Sabbagh shot dead outside Elite Fight Force gym at Sefton
Underworld sources have spoken out after the “sickening” execution of a man in front of his son in Sydney’s southwest. Find out what they said.
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The gym where Taha Sabbagh was shot dead in front of his son on Thursday is frequented by some of the heaviest criminals in Sydney.
High ranking members of the Comanchero bikie gang regularly work out there as well as senior figures from Middle Eastern crime families.
Sabbagh, 40, was ambushed outside the Elite Fight Force gym in Sefton, moments after he pulled up to drop his 12-year-old son to an early morning boxing session.
The boy was stepping out of the vehicle, just before 6.30am, when a masked man run up to the car and pumped up to six bullets into his father.
Mr Sabbagh, his coffee spilt all over his lap but still clutching the takeaway cup, died at the scene.
The shooting in front of the young boy “sickened” senior police, who vowed to catch those responsible for the daylight murder.
Underworld sources said the Elite Flight Force gym is a meeting place for very powerful criminal identities where business deals are often hammered out.
“There would be a few there who have a heap of enemies and would be targets,’’ one source said.
There is no suggestion the owners or staff at the gym are involved in, or have knowledge of, any criminal activity.
Another person who knows several members said: “Gyms have become de facto clubhouses for not just bikie groups but some crime syndicates.
“There has been a lot of tension on the streets out in the southwest for a few months now.
There have been a stack of kidnappings that are not reported and whispers of a few drug rips.
“The cops have kept a lid on things till now, but it has been building up.’’
Some claim that Taha Sabbagh’s murder was a case of mistaken identity.
But others said he may have become involved in something criminal.
“He would have been mixing with some very connected people in that gym and anything from a bad business deal to an insult could get you killed,’’ a source said.
His death ends an underworld ceasefire of more than six months on Sydney’s streets.
A tradesman pulling up for work in a factory next-door told The Daily Telegraph he heard the gunshots, “probably four to six, really quick ones, quite a muffled sound”, then the son’s terrified screams.
“He was screaming ‘Help, help, my dad’s been shot’,” the tradesman said.
“I’m told they heard him screaming blocks away, it was full on.”
The tradesman ran to the Mercedes Benz 4WD and saw the dying man, holding his coffee cup and slumped sideways over the centre console of the car, with one foot out the door.
“I started to dial Triple-0, it was 6.35am because I checked later what time I called, but then I saw someone else was already on the phone to them so I just hung up”.
Immediately, the tradesman knew there was little he could do to help the distraught boy’s dad. There were bullet holes in his chest ... blood everywhere.
“There were two bullet holes in the windscreen and a couple in the bonnet, so it happened at close range.”
The tradesman whisked the sobbing boy inside his factory and took him to a quiet office where he gave him water and tissues.
“He was just crying and asking what happened to his dad ... we didn’t want to tell him too much, better the police did that,” he said.
Paramedics pulled Mr Sabbagh from the 4WD and lay him on the ground while they tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A white sheet was placed over his body with blood still visible beside it.
NSW Police Homicide Squad Commander Danny Doherty said he was “sickened” when he heard the victim 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-year-old boy having to witness this.”
Mr Sabbagh’s wailing wife and family arrived at the gym just after 8am, along with dozens of devastated friends.
Police reversed a car into the factory where the dead man’s son was being comforted and helped him into the back seat, away from cameras or bystanders, then drove him down the road to be reunited with his mother.
At the Sabbagh’s Greenacre home, less than 10km from the gym, up to 100 mourners gathered in the front yard and on the footpath throughout the day to pay respects to the family.
Mr Sabbagh’s death comes 201 days after the last organised crime related shooting on Sydney’s streets, the killings of Lametta Fadlallah and Amy Hazzouri.
Det Supt Doherty said while the investigation was in its infancy, there was no evidence of the 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 nearby Birrong.
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