Drive-by shooting earns wheel man 7 years in prison

Police happened to be watching when family feud erupted in violence

When Fawaz “Caesar” Abdullah lowered his tinted window, extended his arm out of the passenger side of his car and fired once into a white Mercedes, he had no idea that police, already watching his car from the ground and sky, witnessed the entire thing.

Shooter Abdullah and wheelman Hussein Mohammad were both arrested within hours of the July 23, 2014 drive-by shooting, thanks, in large part, to surveillance being conducted by Ottawa police during a summer of gunfire.

Police would connect the dots between shooter Abdullah and target Ahmad Hamzeh. Abdullah was acting on his brother’s feud with Hamzeh’s twin brother, and Hamzeh had the misfortune of driving on Bank Street that summer night.

Abdullah waited one day into his September 2016 trial before asking to plead guilty. Mohammad was sentenced earlier this month to seven-and-a-half years for his role behind the wheel. Both had initially been charged with two counts of attempted murder but were ultimately convicted of lesser charges.

Court documents reveal the anatomy of the gangland shooting.

Hamzeh was driving the Mercedes with his girlfriend riding shotgun when an Impala, with Mohammad driving and Abdullah in the passenger seat, spotted the car and turned around to catch up to it just before 8 p.m.

In 2010, Hamzeh’s twin brother, Ali Hamzeh, had testified against Abdullah’s brother, Abulaziz Abdullah, also known as “EZ.” Abulaziz was acquitted and the heads of the Abdullah and Hamzeh families met to resolve any bad blood between their sons.

Hamzeh thought the feud was behind them, until he saw the gun. No one was injured, but a judge ruled that the intended message was likely to scare the Hamzeh brothers.

But police were already watching the Impala, and a surveillance airplane followed it to Southvale Road after the shooting, where the occupants ditched the car and were picked up by a silver Mustang.

Guns and gangs detectives knew the Impala was owned by the father of the Abdullah brothers and that it was typically Fawaz who used it.

A surveillance team was tracking the vehicle the night of the shooting to gather information on the Abdullah brothers, well known to anti-gang police.

Police tracked the car all over the east and south end of the city.

Driver Mohammad was arrested that night in the Mustang after that car was intercepted by police.

The key to Abdullah’s Impala, about four grams of marijuana and 26 grams of compacted and powdered cocaine were found where Mohammad was sitting, with an asthma inhaler prescribed to him resting nearby.

Police later searched the Impala and found two loaded handguns — a .40-calibre semi-automatic Taurus inside a sock and 9-mm Smith & Wesson — hidden in a secret cavity behind the light knob in the driver’s side dashboard. The cavity in the Impala is a popular spot to hide firearms, according to police.

Abdullah’s DNA was on the Taurus, the gun that likely fired the bullet into Hamzeh’s car.

Hamzeh testified at trial, after a warrant was issued to make sure he attended court, that he noticed the Impala for the first time driving fast through an apartment complex parking lot but “did not think anything crazy.”

Hamzeh was northbound on Bank, and then suddenly the Impala was beside him. Hamze h was contemplating turning into a plaza to get something to eat with his girlfriend.

The window in the Impala lowered and a bullet hit the rear driver’s side door of Hamzeh’s car.

Mohammad was convicted of numerous firearms offences and drug possession after his trial in September 2016. Abdullah, who pleaded guilty early, was sentenced to three years and 131 days in jail for his crimes.

Brother Abdulaziz pleaded guilty in October 2016 to being an accessory and getaway driver in the fatal shooting of Sharif Said on Tremblay Road in the summer of 2015. He served just 30 days in jail after getting credit for 791 days in custody.

Twins Ahmad and Ali Hamzeh were charged with drug crimes in November 2016 after a police raid turned up 81 grams of cocaine, 23 grams of crack, 4.5 grams of hash and $9,155 in cash.

The pair had previously been charged with attempted murder in 2012 after a stabbing, but those charges were stayed after the alleged victim didn’t show up in court to testify.