Slain teen Salim Hamze a suspect in murder of Alemeddine rival Shady Kanj

Police had been looking at slain teen Salim Hamze as a suspect in the killing of Shady Kanj, a low-level drug runner for the Alameddine clan.

Slain teenage gangster Salim Hamze was a suspect in the shooting murder of Shady Kanj, the only associate of the Alameddine crime network to so far die in the war gripping Sydney‘s southwest.

Hamze, 18, and his father Toufik Hamze, 64, were about to leave for work when they were brazenly gunned down outside their rundown home on Osgood St in Guildford, just before 9am on Wednesday.

It is understood police had been looking at Salim Hamze as a suspect in the killing of Kanj, 22, a low-level drug runner for the Alameddine clan who was assassinated in a one-way street in Guildford in August — the first time the Hamzes had struck in the ongoing turf war between the two rival gangs.

Salim Hamze, who was gunned down in Guildford yesterday.

Shady Kanj was assassinated in Guildford in August.

Toufik Hamze, 64, and his son Salim Hamze, 18. Picture: Facebook

Emergency services at the scene of the shootings at Osgood St near Woodville Rd at Guildford.

Police found Salim Hamze and his father Toufik Hamze slumped inside a ute.

Shattered relatives of the slain Hamzes gathered at the Auburn home of the teen’s mother on Thursday.

It is understood Mr Toufik and his wife separated some years ago, with Salim spending time living at both addresses.

But after being charged with possessing a firearm in September he was initially ordered by a magistrate to live at his father’s home, but that bail condition was later relaxed and he was able to return to his mother’s.

The burnt out car that is believed to be involved in the shooting deaths of two Hamze family members in Guildford on Wednesday morning. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Still reeling from the horror of a shooting in their traditionally quiet suburban neighbourhood, residents on Osgood St said they estimate it took roughly nine to 12 bullets to kill the father and son duo.

“I’d just started working when I heard a burst of four or five gunshots … then there was a delay of about 10 seconds or something, and then another three or four,“ one man said.

Another local Cheryl who has lived in the Guildford area for a number of years said it was not the first time such shootings had taken place.

“I heard several intervals of gunfire, well I didn’t know it was gunfire at the time,” she said.

“After I heard the last few shots I came out to check if there was any smoke from what I thought must have been the fire crackers, but I got to the gate and couldn’t see anything so just went back inside … they (Salim and Toufik) must have been in the car.

“Many years ago there were shootings not far from here and it was the same deal, it‘s payback, there’s nothing you can do.”

CCTV footage from around Murdock Lane in Guildford, where the Lexus SUV believed to have been used in the shooting was found burned out, shows that car entering — before a gun metal grey Ford Mustang roared out of the lane.

CCTV footage from around Murdock Lane in Guildford shows a gun metal grey Ford Mustang roared out of the lane.

It is understood Salim had idolised the gangster lifestyle and had become a low-ranking ally of one of the Hamze family’s only remaining leaders, Ibrahem Hamze.

Having broken his hand punching a wall when he found out his brother Bilal had been murdered in a hail of bullets in Sydney‘s CBD in June, a court later heard that Ibrahem was another known target.

In fact he narrowly escaped a suspected attempt on his life in August when a stolen car being driven by two masked gunmen near Ibrahem’s home on Sydney’s north shore was involved in a high-speed car chase with police, derailing their attempt.

Having already seen his brother Bilal and cousin Mejid killed, the latest slaying of another associate will do little to quell Ibrahem‘s anxiety about the bullseye on his back.