Slain teenage gang member Salim Hamze knew he had a price on his head

Police say the teenager gunned down with his father in broad daylight on Wednesday knew he could be a target of his family’s underworld feud.

Police say the teenager gunned down with his father in broad daylight on Wednesday knew he could be a target of his family’s underworld feud before the double murder, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Following yesterday’s 9am shooting, NSW Police said 18-year-old Salim Hamze was “known to us as a person who was sometimes under threat and known to be involved in criminal organisations”.

Hamze, considered a low-ranking lieutenant in the Hamze family crime gang engaged in a long-running war with the Alameddine family, was shot alongside his father Toufik, 64.

The pair were slain moments after leaving their Guildford home in southwestern Sydney, with the elder Hamze believed to be innocent of any connection with organised crime.

Police believe two gunmen who fled in a Lexus SUV later found dumped and torched had lain in wait to target Salim.

The teen died at the scene and his father died later in hospital.

Their murders follow the fatal shootings of family gang leader Mejid Hamzy in October last year and Bilal Hamze’s death in a hail of bullets outside a Japanese restaurant in June this year.

Mejid was the younger brother of Bassam Hamzy, the notorious Sydney gangster and one-time leader of the Brothers 4 Life crime gang serving 40 years in Goulburn Supermax prison.

Bilal, also considered a crime boss, was the cousin of Bassam who is currently jailed over murder and gang offences after originally being locked up for a 1998 nightclub shooting murder.

Salim Hamze, 18, who was gunned down, along with his father on Wednesday knew there was a price on his head in his family’s underworld feud. Picture: Facebook.

Raptor Squad police search a man’s car on Excelsior Street in Guildford following the double shooting. Picture: NCA NewsWire.

Aftermath of double murder.

Shooters’ getaway car on fire.

Bassam, described as Australia’s most dangerous gangster, is believed to still operate the B4L gang from his Supermax cell.

Other Hamze family members are said to be potential targets in the underworld gang war.

In June this year, a senior Hamzy family member was allowed to attend Bilal Hamze’s funeral, despite there being “a target on his back”.

The NSW Supreme Court heard that Ghassan Amoun, another of Bassam Hamzy’s younger brothers, could be the next target in the violent family feud with the Alameddines.

Justice David Davies granted Amoun permission to attend the ceremony despite the “level of threat” against him after Bilal Hamze had died aware of a contract on his head, but defying warnings to keep a low profile.

NSW Police Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett described the double slaying of Salim and Toufik Hamze as “another appalling crime in a long list of gangland style shootings that have taken place in southwest Sydney”.

Salim Hamze, gunned down at the age of 18. Picture: Facebook.

Salim was a low level member of the B4L gang. Picture: Facebook.

Gangster and Supermax inmate Bassam Hamzy is believed to still be pulling strings from inside his maximum security cell.

“These retribution-style, drug-turf style shootings are an ongoing problem in southwest Sydney and we’ve got a large proportion of State Crime Command working on them full-time,” Supt. Bennet said.

He told a media conference after the shootings that the police’s State Crime Command was trying to solve the crimes or “trying to stop these crimes before they happen”.

“Our main focus is a number of known families involved in serious crime,” he said.

“We don’t know the specifics about why this took place.”

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