Tarek Zahed: Bikie boss opens up on moment he was shot at Sydney gym

A former bikie kingpin opened up about the moment he watched his brother die as he explains why he didn’t want to return to a life of crime.

Watching his mother cradling his dead brother on the floor of a Sydney gym was a catalyst for the man dubbed the Balenciaga Bikie to turn away from life in the underworld, court documents claim.

Tarek Zahed was also gravely wounded when two masked men stormed the Auburn fitness centre and opened fire on him and younger sibling Omar in May 2022, while their mum watched on from a foyer overlooking the training area.

Shot 10 times, Tarek – the former national sergeant-at-arms of the Comanchero – survived the incident but suffered lifelong physical and mental scars including the loss of his right eye and PTSD.

Tarek Zahed was known for his penchant for designer clothes.

The Comanchero boss suffered severe injuries in the shooting.

His recollections of the moment he nearly died were shared in a psychological report tendered to the NSW Supreme Court this month as he faced sentence for hindering the police investigation into a 2014 death.

Zahed, 43, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ jail after admitting to ordering a car in which murder victim and family friend Youssef Assoum was fatally assaulted to be destroyed.

The court heard he was motivated by “misguided loyalty” to protect his other brother, Abdul.

Abdul Zahed has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to Mr Assoum’s murder and will be sentenced at a later date.

Prosecutors dropped murder charges against both Zahed brothers on the eve of a trial earlier this year.

The Zahed brothers: (l-r) Omar, Tarek and Abdul. Picture: Supplied

Youssef Assoum, 29, died after being shot and stabbed in Sydney’s southwest.

In the psych report released to news.com.au, Tarek’s memories of the night he was shot are recorded to explain how he has coped behind bars since his dramatic arrest in August 2022.

He recalled hearing the sounds of guns being fired by a man in a balaclava and experiencing “intense pain”, according to the report.

“His next memory is that of observing his mother screaming while holding the deceased sibling, Omar,” the report states.

Zahed spent six weeks in hospital recovering from his injuries and undergoing numerous surgeries.

The similarity between this ambush and the tactical operation police used to arrest him at Edgecliff a few months later led to Zahed believing a second attempt on his life was unfolding.

Emergency services Tarek Zahed and his brother Omar, after they were shot multiple times. Picture: Supplied

Police on the scene outside the gym.

Officers swooped on the bikie boss while he was in a Mercedes stopped at a traffic light on New South Head Rd, firing beanbag rounds through the windows and dragging him outside.

“When referring to the circumstances of his arrest, Mr Zahed recalled... hearing guns being discharged and which he believed were directed at him … (and) seeing persons, who he only later learned to be police, running towards him and shouting,” the report says.

His “allegedly violent” arrest caused him to relive the shooting incident at the gym and aggravated his serious gunshot wounds, Zahed told the psychologist.

In the report, forensic psychologist Stephen Woods wrote he believed the two incidents had become “enmeshed” in Zahed’s mind and have left him traumatised.

Police shot through the windows of this car carrying Tarek Zahed in August 2022. Picture: NSW Police/NCA NewsWire

Pictures from the scene showed Zahed bandaged around the head. Picture: NSW Police/NCA NewsWire

The professor states Zahed presented with a “disturbing criminal history”.

Zahed has been convicted of several offences in his life, including for setting a dog on a woman, inflicting grievous bodily harm, shooting a man in the ear and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

The motivation for Zahed getting involved in the aftermath of Mr Assoum’s death, he said, was he knew the deceased and his young brother Abdul Zahed “were up to something” and he wanted to protect his sibling.

Zahed believed he no longer holds his high-ranking position in the Comanchero, the report states, “due to having relocated to Melbourne and ceased active involvement in the OMCG”.

“Mr Zahed stated that he relocated to Melbourne with his wife and children in 2021 in order to begin to distance himself from the OMCG, and in response to learning his life was at risk,” it states.

Tarek Zahed leaving a Sydney court in 2021 over unrelated matters. Picture: NCA NewsWire/James Gourley

He is quoted as giving reasons for wanting to leave the underworld behind: “Because I’ve got responsibilities... my wife, children and my brother’s children... my mother.”

Zahed also fears for his ongoing safety due to the severe injuries he suffered in the May 2022 shooting, the report notes.

In sentencing Zahed to a minimum two years and four months non-parole period last week, Justice Richard Button noted the offender’s desire to “start afresh free of violence... or thoughts of revenge”.

“I agree that positive outcome is one possibility. But other much more negative futures can be brought to mind as possibilities as well,” he said.

“My ultimate thought on this topic is that one can hope for change but one cannot be satisfied that it will occur.”

Having already spent 18 months in prison, Zahed will be eligible for release in December 2024.

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