Western Sydney residents tell of fear living among gang slayings

Sydney’s gangland shootings have so far cleared out the ranks of the city’s underbelly, but residents fear it is only a matter of time before civilians become collateral damage.

They’re changing up the way they go to work and unplugging their headphones to stay alert. Some are even looking at their neighbours sideways. This is life for innocent people living inside Sydney‘s gangland shooting zone.

“You never know who’s got a gun and who’s going to shoot at any time,” said one young woman working in the same Auburn complex where Comanchero boss Tarek Zahed and his ­brother Omar were this week gunned down.

And this from another: “It is scary coming to work every day not knowing if this will be your last day.”

Tarek, 41, and Omar, 39, were leaving BodyFit gym on Parramatta Rd about 8pm on Tuesday when they were ambushed with a hail of bullets from an unknown shooter.

Tarek remains under police guard in hospital, where he faces a long road to recovery, having been shot up to 10 times including once to his head. His younger brother died on the gym floor after his injuries induced cardiac arrest, and was yesterday laid to rest in emotional proceedings at Lakemba.

Omar (left) and Tarek Zahed were gunned down on Tuesday. Omar died, Tarek is still in hospital.

The shooting, which came one week after a $1 million bounty for the bikie boss’s life was revealed, is just the latest in a spiralling gang war that has left many in the city’s west afraid of further bloodshed.

One woman working nearby said the string of executions had her fearing for her own life.

“It makes you concerned for your wellbeing and coming to work every day,” she said. “It’s so common now to have (shootings) in public places. You don’t know where it’s going to happen. I will still come to work but I have to be very cautious about my surroundings and people around me. You never know who can have a gun.”

Another woman, who was among those willing to speak to The Saturday Telegraph only on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisal, said she no longer trusted those around her.

“I have to take the bus home and I’m a young girl that has to go home late at night,” she said. “I used to put both my earphones in and just take the bus home, but now I’m more aware of my surroundings because you never know what can happen. You never know, even the people walking by you.”

One man said Tuesday night’s shooting hadn’t come as a surprise. “Auburn has a reputation … but this is the first time for me,” he said.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb.

Others in the community said they hoped keeping a distance from outlaw bikies and feuding crime families was enough to keep them safe.

“I don’t necessarily feel targeted, but it’s still scary,” one woman said.

“I’m not directly linked to that and to be honest anything that’s on that side of the line, you’re not really threatened unless you get in their way, is my view, and I’m never in their way,” another said.

“I have a lot of dealings with people from that lifestyle (through my business). It’s nothing that terrifies me ­because generally speaking they’re ­always polite and respectful of me when they’re in the store.”

The shooting — the 12th execution on Sydney’s streets over the past two years — has prompted NSW Police to beef up numbers in its gang-focused Raptor Squad.

Investigators spent the past three days paying visits to hundreds of gang members and associates across the city, as they scramble for intel on who may be behind the attack.

“It will be an intelligence-led operation targeting criminals to make sure they don’t compromise public safety,” Police Commissioner Karen Webb said this week.

“It will be zero tolerance. We know who we are targeting. We are not targeting mums and dads, we are targeting criminals.”

Police Minister Paul Toole added: “We will actually kick down doors, we will raid homes, we will raid bus­­in­esses, we will harass you, we will disrupt your everyday life to stamp this kind of ­behaviour out.”

The aftermath of Tuesday night’s shooting at BodyFit Auburn.

Tarek Zahed has been the long-serving sergeant-at-arms for the ­Comancheros, and was tipped to take over as national president following the arrest of Mick Murray.

He moved to Melbourne in January to escape constant pressure from NSW Police, but returned to Sydney in March for the funeral of Lone Wolf boss Erkan “Eric the Wolf” Keskin.

Zahed was initially in critical condition after being shot in the head, stomach, legs and arms on Tuesday, but has since improved enough to come off life support.

Meanwhile, police have been chasing their tails with little to go on other than two Audi Q7s found burnt out at Berala and Greenacre shortly after the shooting.

One of many lines of inquiry detectives will consider is whether the attack was retaliation for the murder of prominent crime figure Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad just two weeks earl­ier. Ahmad’s slaying in a quiet southwest Sydney street on April 27 was yet another escalation point in the underworld war.

A member of the once-feared Ahmad crime family, he was peppered with bullets outside a Greenacre home and died at the scene, despite CPR efforts by attending police.

Like Tarek Zahed, Ahmad had been warned by police before his death of a $1 million bounty on his head.

Also in the underbelly war, high-profile crime figure Ghassan Amoun was the victim of a drive-by shooting on January 6.

Amoun, the brother of Brothers 4 Life founder Bassam Hamzy, had also been warned by police he was a target. His life was cut short when he was ­ambushed by an armed man in a stolen Mini Cooper as he was leaving a South Wentworthville laser clinic.

Police tried to save Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad after he was gunned down in a residential Greenacre street.

In October last year Salim Hamze, a teenage gang member, and his dad Toufik, who was not known to have any criminal links, were gunned down outside their Guildford home.

In August Alameddine associate Shady Kanj was shot and killed at Chester Hill.

Just two months earlier Bilal Hamze, a leader of the Hamzy crime family and Brothers 4 Life gang, was executed while leaving a restaurant in Sydney’s CBD. He had a $750,000 bounty on his head at the time.

In January of that year Mejed Derbas was shot dead in a car at Smithfield, and Mustafa Naaman was killed outside a Hurstville boxing match. Naaman’s shooting was a case of mistaken identity, with police believing the real target was Ibrahem Hamze.

But it was the alleged murder of Mejid Hamzy outside his Condell Park home in October 2020 that ­really kicked the Alameddine-Hamzy rivalry into another gear and led to much of the later bloodshed.

Chris O’Brien and Bryce Williams were arrested just this year for the ­alleged slaying. Both have been charged with murder and have not ­entered any plea.

Bikie boss Mark Buddle is believed to be living in Cyprus.

Police will allege it was former Comanchero boss Mark Buddle, who fled to the Middle East in 2016, who sanctioned the murder in response to the theft of 400kg of ­cocaine.

Buddle is now in a race against police to work out who was behind Tuesday’s fatal shooting of Omar Zahed and the attempted hit on bro­ther Tarek, with more violence on the streets expected in the meantime.

Tony Oldfield, a spokesman for residents’ group The Battler, which covers suburbs including Auburn, said an increased police presence may not be the solution to the war.

“These people don’t abide by normal rules and regulations,” Mr Oldfield said.

“When people talk about more police, I don’t think that’s the ­solution at all.

“I think, if anything, it’s actually putting more power in the community. That’s the actual solution. And the community taking responsibility for these sorts of things, and when they see something that’s not right, calling it out.”

Meanwhile, Michelle Sun, a volunteer at the Auburn Asian Welfare Centre, said many Sydneysiders had deemed Auburn a “no-go zone”.

“Auburn has a reputation because shootings (have) happened a few times before,” Ms Sun said. “I think it’s just something that we sort of got used to, even though we are concerned, but it’s not something that we can control.

“It’s out of control.”

BodyFit Auburn remains closed for the time being, as the bullet-sprayed windows are replaced and staff and members come to terms with what happened there.

General manager Nat Grosvenor said no date for its reopening had been confirmed.

“People are at the forefront of everything right now, the business will look after itself,” Ms Grosvenor said.

“Obviously we’re devastated, but our priorities are purely about people, so we’re very grateful that our staff and members are safe and well.”

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