Surry Hills shooting victim Niddal Acherkouk linked to kidnap attempt, bounty contract

Niddal Acherkouk reportedly fended off a kidnapping last year and was the target of an alleged contract killing.

Niddal Acherkouk was killed in an underworld shooting in Surry Hills, Sydney, on Friday. Picture: Supplied.

Shooting victim Niddal Acherkouk reportedly fended off a kidnapping last year and was the target of an alleged contract killing, with police still in pursuit of gunmen two days after he was shot dead.

CCTV footage points to a co-ordinated assassination in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, with two gunmen attacking Acherkouk at 7.45pm on Friday.

The gunmen, obscured in head-to-toe black clothing and ponchos, fired on Acherkouk at the Surry Hills BP service station as he sat in his car. The men fled in another vehicle, leaving Acherkouk to limp across Cleveland Street having suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his chest.

A CCTV screenshot of the moment a man was fatally shot at a Surry Hills service station. Picture: Supplied

He died at the scene after receiving assistance from passers-by and paramedics.

He was known to police and had links to organised crime. Investigators reportedly seized CCTV footage from the neighbouring Erciyes Turkish restaurant, where Acherkouk had dined earlier, unaware his attackers were waiting for him.

The Daily Telegraph reported that this was not the first targeted attack on Acherkouk – he was the victim of an attempted kidnapping in July last year.

In a statement at the time, police said a 30-year-old man leaving a Punchbowl gym was attacked in his car. After wrestling with a masked attacker, Acherkouk then drove his Ford Ranger into a storefront.

Though working professionally as a builder, the Daily Telegraph reported he was close with relatives of ex-Comanchero boss Mark Buddle.

While any link between the alleged July 2023 offence and Friday’s shooting was unclear, Acherkouk was also reportedly the target of a bounty contract, which he became aware of in the weeks prior to his death. The Australian contacted NSW Police for comment.

A large-scale police operation is now under way to find the attackers, who are believed to have fled in a Porsche, which was later set alight.

Police cordoned off Cleveland Street late into the night. Picture: Liam Mendes

Shortly after the gunmen fled, police were called to a car fire on Kensington Road, Kensington.

On Saturday, NSW Police superintendent Andrew Garner said: “This is definitely a targeted attack. The man who died had known links to organised crime. So on that basis, we believe it was targeted, and that he was the intended target of that attack. There’s no broader risk or threat to the public in relation to this.

“This is an outrageous incident (that) demonstrated a high level of reckless indifference to the public.”