Salim and Toufik Hamze shot dead in shocking Guildford execution
A notorious underworld family has been torn apart today after a brazen execution left an 18-year-old and his father dead inside their car.
Pictures have emerged of the teenage member of a prominent underworld family who was executed today in a bloody gangland shooting in Sydney’s suburbs.
Salim Hamze, 18, and his father Toufik Hamze, 64, were shot and killed shortly before 9am in Guildford in Sydney’s southwest.
Officers from Cumberland Police Area Command located a vehicle with two men slumped inside at the scene.
One man was found dead at the scene, while the other was discovered in a critical condition and treated by NSW ambulance paramedics.
However, the second man was unable to be saved, and he also died soon after.
While the identities of the two men have not been publicly released by police, it’s understood the victims were Salim Hamze and his father Toufik Hamze.
It is believed the father and son were about to head off to work when they were shot and killed.
On social media, pictures of a young looking Salim show him with friends. One was uploaded as recently as last week.
Distressed family and friends soon gathered at the grisly scene, with photographs showing people comforting each other.
Video also captured what is believed to have been the getaway car engulfed in flames, while other photos at the scene show a burnt-out car nearby being investigated by police.
NSW Police later confirmed Homicide Squad detectives were leading an investigation into the public place shooting, with assistance from detectives from the Criminal Groups Squad and South West Metropolitan Region.
Speaking at NSW Police Headquarters in Parramatta this afternoon, State Crime Command director Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Bennett confirmed that Salim Hamze was known to police and that he had been on bail over firearm charges after being arrested in September.
However, he said police did not know what “position” the teen held within the family group, and also said they were not aware of his father Toufik Hamze being involved in any criminal activity.
“Retribution-style, drug turf-style shootings are an ongoing issue for us in southwest Sydney,” Chief Superintendent Bennett said.
“We’re always worried about reprisals, worried about family feuds.”
At this stage, police are unclear as to what sparked the attack, or who was the intended target.
Chief Superintendent Bennett also confirmed a burnt-out car had been found nearby in Murdock Lane, and condemned the attack as “another appalling crime in a long list of gangland style shootings that have taken place in south-west Sydney”.“It’s an atrocious crime that shouldn’t have taken place,” he said, adding police “may have to work proactively against people in the coming days”.
In an earlier update, police confirmed the older man was taken by NSW Ambulance paramedics to Westmead Hospital, where he later died.
A crime scene has been established, which is being examined by specialist forensic officers.
Officers from the Raptor Squad have also commenced “proactive intelligence-based targeting of known members and associates of involved criminal networks”, police said.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report it online.
Gangland war
According to the Telegraph and a string of other media outlets, the executions appear to be connected to the ongoing gangland war between the Hamze – also known as Hamzy – and Alameddine families.
The feud between the rival Sydney clans stretches back over many years and is believed to be connected to control of the drug trade.
However, in recent months, tensions have been escalating, and the latest deaths mean four members of the Hamze clan have been killed in just over a year.
Today’s deadly shooting comes just a few months after Bilal Hamze – the cousin of Brothers 4 Life founder Bassam Hamzy – was shot dead in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, after police had earlier warned him of a bounty on his head.
Hamze, 34, was gunned down in a hail of bullets as he left an establishment on Bridge Street one night in June when persons opened fire from a black vehicle.
His death came after the Auburn home of his mother, Maha Hamze, was targeted in a drive-by shooting in February, although she was not hurt in the incident.
Police are yet to lay charges over either of these shootings.
And Mejid Hamzy, the younger brother of Bassam Hamzy, was also shot dead outside his Condell Park home in October 2020.
In the morning of October 19 last year, police rushed to the home following reports of a shooting, and the 44-year-old was found nearby with multiple gunshot wounds.
Two men are currently before the courts, charged as part of investigations into the circumstances of Mejid’s death.
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