Highly regarded taxi driver’s dreams die in a shotgun blast

Taxi driver Hassan Baydoun had just returned from a month off workm on holiday when he was gunned down on his meal break.

Victim Hassan Baydoun, 33. Picture: Facebook

Hassan Baydoun was back on his first shift as a Darwin taxi driver on Tuesday afternoon after a month off.

He picked up a cab from a depot and less than 10 minutes later was shot dead at the Palms Motel, where he lived, says friend Khurram Shahzad.

“It’s hard to absorb,” said Mr Shahzad, who saw Mr Baydoun in the depot shortly before the murder.

“I met him 10 minutes before. I have a thousand thoughts in my head that if I could have held him for five minutes he would have been alive.”

Mr Baydoun, originally from Lebanon, graduated from Charles Darwin University with a Masters of Information Technology last year.

The 33-year-old had been working “on and off” as a taxi driver and was a long-term resident at the Palms Motel, Mr Shahzad said.

It was where the shooting rampage by suspected gunman Ben Hoffmann started, with witnesses recalling the horror of him moving from room to room, firing off shots as he searched for someone.

“If there was trouble, he would run away from it; if someone was angry, he would not get angry,” Mr Shahzad said.

“He was such a nice guy. I can’t believe it.”

Mr Shahzad said his friend had built a house in Lebanon and had planned to return home in coming weeks for a visit to family, who were now shattered.

Blue Taxi Company issued a statement confirming the death of one of their “long-term beloved drivers”.

“Our company is heartbroken and his colleagues are in a state of shock. This is not what our city stands for.

“Someone shot having a meal break while going about their own business. We pray we never have to witness anything like this ever again.

“We mourn him and honour him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. RIP Hassan.”