A new police strike force has been established after another gang-related shooting in western Sydney that left a Comanchero bikie boss fighting for life and his brother dead.
The latest shooting, just two weeks after gangland figure Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad was slain on a Greenacre street, prompted authorities to warn doors would be kicked down and criminal gangs members will be harassed in an effort to find the killer.
Tarek Zahed, 41, was critically injured and his brother Omar killed when they were ambushed and sprayed with bullets on Tuesday night as they stood in the foyer of the Body Fit gym at Auburn.
Omar Zahed, 39, was treated for multiple gunshot wounds to his stomach, arms and legs and died at the scene.
Tarek Zahed was hit up to 10 times in his body and head. He was taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition where he underwent surgery.
Deputy Premier Paul Toole said the incident was “shocking” and “disturbing” and the government was committed to eradicating the city’s criminal underbelly.
“If you are part of Sydney’s underworld, if you are involved in criminal activity we are going to hunt you down and we are going to stamp out this kind of activity and this behaviour,” he said.
“We will actually kick down doors, we will raid homes, we will raid businesses.
“We will harass you, we will disrupt your everyday life to stamp this kind of activity out.”
Police Commissioner Karen Webb announced Strike Force Leary would be established to investigate and 30 more officers would be deployed to Strike Force Raptor – the squad targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs.
“We will be targeting criminals and they should know who they are and we will come and knock on their door,” she said.
State Crime Command Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said police urged the brothers to leave the state on Thursday but the advice was ignored.
“Their lives have been at risk because one is a senior member of the Comanchero motorcycle group, which is Australia’s largest criminal organisation,” he said.
Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said the shooting could have been motivated by a bikie internal power struggle.
“With all these shootings and people being killed there’s opportunities for people to try to take their places,” he said.
“There’s a real power struggle within different criminal networks and that could be one of the lines of inquiry we look at.”
Ms Webb said it was possible the shooting could have been retaliation for Ahmad’s killing on April 27.
“Some of these people are in conflict with a number of other groups and it is hard to pinpoint if it is direct retaliation or not,” she told Sydney radio 2GB.
Police found two Audi Q7s on fire in the nearby suburbs of Berala and Greenacre a short time after the attack and multiple crime scenes have been established.
Last week, Investigations and Counter Terrorism Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a parliamentary hearing there had been 11 gang-related homicides in the last two years sparked by rivalries in Sydney’s criminal underworld.
Since June 2020, there have been more than 40 major known violent incidents between gangs in NSW.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the Raptor Squad was well equipped, adding police would be given any extra resources required and people should not feel unsafe in their neighbourhoods.
“We have one of the lowest crime rates in recorded history in our state,” he said.
NSW Labor has renewed its calls for the premier to take action on western Sydney gang violence.
