Man shot dead in front of son in targeted attack outside gym
Police are hunting for at least two people and investigating possible gangland connections after a man was shot dead in front of his 12-year-old son outside a gym in Sydney’s south-west on Thursday morning. Taha Sabbagh was in his car with his son next to him outside the Elite Fight Force martial arts gym about 6.30am when at least one gunman opened fire, shooting him multiple times. He was treated by paramedics but died at the scene.
The boy was physically uninjured but “traumatised” by the attack, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty told reporters on Thursday afternoon. “This was an egregious, violent act,” he said. The shooting, in front of a child, indicates killers who are “callous, they’re brazen, and they have little [regard] for human life”. Although Sabbagh was not well known to police, Doherty said the shooting was a targeted attack that “bears all the hallmarks of an organised crime-related murder”. While investigators were keeping an open mind about the circumstances and possible motives – including whether Sabbagh was targeted in a case of mistaken identity – Doherty said the victim was associated with “people who are well known to police and have strong criminal activity connected to them”.
At this stage there is no evidence it is connected to any previous conflicts, Doherty said. It is being treated as an isolated incident, unconnected to the string of gangland shootings that afflicted western Sydney in the first half of last year.
Doherty said there’s been a dramatic decrease in shootings and murders in the area, with more than six months since the last