‘Sickening’: 13 innocents killed or injured in Sydney’s gangland shootings

They’re the 13 “cleanskins” caught in the crossfire. Since October 2020 gang wars have seen 25 people fatally shot. Seven of them innocent bystanders. Six more innocents have been injured. Some were just kids.

Young children, grandparents, mothers and young men have fallen victim to Sydney’s long-running gang wars, with 13 innocent victims killed or injured in the bloody crossfire.

Investigators say the shocking number is “sickening”, while the Police Minister labelled the violence as “nothing short of horrific”.

Families in suburban neighbourhoods are scared to walk out their front doors, fearing they too could be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Since the gang war began in October 2020, 25 people have been shot and killed – seven of them innocent people, while a further six “cleanskins” have been injured – many of them children.

On Monday, John Versace became the latest victim of the carnage, but with no underworld links, police believe the young plumber may have been targeted in a case of mistaken identity.

John Versace, 22, killed in Condell Park shooting. Picture: Supplied/Facebook

Police Minister Yasmin Catley acknowledged the bloodshed, and said: “When innocent people are caught in the crossfire of gangland crime, it shakes communities.”

But Ms Catley said police were working “around the clock” to track down those responsible.

“The recent violence we’ve seen on our streets is nothing short of horrific,” she said.

“Gangland crime is deeply complex. But make no mistake – the NSW Police are relentless in their pursuit of those responsible.”

Twenty two year-old Mr Versace bled out and died in the driveway of his parents’ home on Monday night, after a masked gunman dived from a Corolla and fired 10 shots at the young plumber as he screamed at him to stop.

His quiet street in Condell Park is now full of frightened residents, desperate for answers on why Mr Versace was ambushed, and whether the intended target lives somewhere else on his street.

“We’ve had trouble sleeping since it happened,” one woman said.

Amy Al-Hazouri was killed in shooting at Revesby.

“The gunshots and sirens sounded like something out of a movie.

“Then we learn this poor man was innocent. We’ve heard they were maybe the shooters were looking for someone else on the street.

“Of course we are thinking ‘what if they come back, what if they get the wrong house again.’

“I don’t even want to go out the front of the house.”

DETECTIVES ‘BURNING’

A police source told the Telegraph homicide detectives were “burning” over the attacks on innocent parties – which include women and children as young as nine.

“Amy Al-Hazouri in particular was horrific,” they said.

“Obviously all homicides are treated the same, but when innocent people get caught up in these violent – and cowardly – confrontations, it’s really horrible.

“There’s all these questions from families and friends – and the answer is sometimes the detectives just don’t know why. It’s sometimes simple as ‘wrong place, wrong time’.”

A NSW Police spokesman said their “primary concern” in criminal incidents was “innocent civilians could be caught up” .

Since the gang wars began with the death of Mejid Hamzy in October 2020, seven innocent people have been killed, and six others have suffered serious injuries.

In 2021, Mustapha Naaman, 29, was killed in a volley of gunfire as he left a boxing fight night, in a shooting NSW Police homicide detectives believe stemmed from a case of mistaken identity.

Police suspect the gunmen mistook Mr Naaman for Ibrahem Hamze, a high-profile member of the notorious Hamzy clan.

Innocent bystander Ramadan Osman was also caught up in the gangland gunfire in 2021, and miraculously survived a shot to the head.

Ramadan Osman was sitting outside his home on August 6, 2021 when a stray bullet from the assassination of Alameddine crime clan member Shady Kanj went through his head. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Ramadan Osman was struck in the head by a stray bullet.

Mr Osman was sitting in his car a few hundred metres up the road when low level Alameddine crime clan member Shady Kanj was assassinated, with a stray bullet hitting Mr Osman in the head.

“I don’t sleep, I have nightmares, I’ve broken six veneers – that’s how much I grind my teeth in my sleep. If I hear a car backfire or someone drops a big weight in the gym, I duck for cover,” he previously told the Telegraph.

“Every time I go out now my little sister says: ‘Rama, please be safe, drive safe’. It’s not pleasant.”

In 2022, Lametta Fadlallah – who had underworld connections – was killed in a gangland shooting. Sitting beside her was her hairdresser, Amy Al-Hazouri, who died in the crossfire.

Later that year 64-year-old Toufik Hamze was executed alongside his son Salim, 18 as they cleaned a car outside their Guildford home.

Toufik Hamze. Picture: Facebook

Ahmad Al-Azzam. Picture: Facebook.

While Salim was believed to have been caught up in the underworld Toufik was just collateral, executed at close range.

Also in 2022, a nine-year-old girl was shot in Connells Point as she walked from the car to the front of her home. It was an attack that sickened police, and left her with life long injuries.

“She has long term nerve damage and nerve pain; an ileostomy bag and walks with a permanent limp,” court documents said.

“When she walks, she relies upon leaning on walls and furniture … she refuses to leave her bedroom.”

In 2023, Ahmad Al Azzam, 25, was killed and a young couple seriously injured in a bugled gangland shooting at an industrial estate in Greenacre.

Kaashif Richards, 22, and Achiraya Jantharat, 19, were parked 50 metres down the road when the barrage of shots that killed Al-Azzam fighting rang out.

Grandmother Kim Duncan, 65, was fatally shot on Monday, April 14 in Ambarvale. Picture: Facebook

Thi Kim Tran, 45, was kidnapped from her Bankstown home before her body was found burnt in the back of a car in Beverly Hills. Photo: Facebook

One of the gunman’s shots pierced their car, hitting the innocent Richards in his neck and Jantharat in her back. Police sources said while Richards and Jantharat were together, they did not know Al-Azzam – who also did not have gang links.

In April this year, grandmother Kim Duncan was killed when she was hit by a slew of bullets which were fired into her Ambarvale home. Ms Duncan was not the intended target, but tragically died when she was struck by a piece of shrapnel.

Last month, in perhaps one of the most shocking gangland executions to rock Sydney, Bankstown mum Thi Kim Tran was kidnapped in front of her children and murdered.

Her little boy, just nine years old was bashed in the head with a baseball bat as he screamed at the attackers to leave his mum alone, also left with life long injuries.

She was not involved in any illegal activity – instead, police are probing whether her murder was a threat against her husband, who is involved in the drug trade.

“When you list all the people caught up in this, you realise how bad this whole thing has become,” another police source said.

“Kids, women, it makes you sick really.”