Australian police investigate suspected gangland shooting of three people

Paramedics at the scene on Auburn Rd. Photo / NewsWire

A major police taskforce has taken charge of the investigation into the shooting of three people, including an alleged underworld figure, in a busy western Sydney street.

An alleged underworld figure has been gunned down in a busy Sydney street in broad daylight, in the third attempt on his life.

Samimjan Azari, his friend and a woman not known to either men were all shot on the busy retail strip outside M Brothers’ Cafe on Auburn Rd in western Sydney by masked men.

Azari was shot in the arm and shoulder, while his “unknown” friend was shot in the face.

Acting NSW Police Commissioner Peter Thurtell said a 50-year-old woman who was shot twice in the torso was working at the shop.

Just an hour earlier, Azari had reported for bail at Auburn police station, just 750 metres away.

Australian Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the woman was “an innocent victim doing her job”.

“All she did was go to work and she has been caught up in this shocking event,” she said.

“Look, I have to say, it’s one thing for criminals to be shooting each other. But when innocent people get caught up in this, it is absolutely abhorrent.

“And we will not tolerate it.”

Thurtell said two masked gunmen walked into the shop and fired eight shots.

They unsuccessfully attempted to access an office at the back of the shop before fleeing in a black Audi with cloned number plates.

Workers and police at the scene. Photo / NewsWire

A car fire involving a similar car was reported several hours later in suburban Harris Park.

Paramedics treated three people for gunshot wounds at the scene before they were taken to Westmead Hospital for further treatment.

The unnamed man is in a serious condition at hospital, Azari and the 50-year-old woman are stable.

The terrifying daylight violence prompted swift responses from NSW Premier Chris Minns and Catley, who vowed to bring down those responsible.

Witnesses described hearing “multiple loud gunshots” and masked men nearby and one man was seen being loaded into an ambulance with heavy bleeding to his head.

A local business owner Ashim Shresdha was working in his nearby store when he heard the gunshots ring out.

“I heard five gunshot noise and then after about five seconds, another two shots,” he said.

Thurtell said Azari had reported to a local police station soon before the attack, under bail conditions imposed on him last month following another shooting in Granville.

Police believe he was the intended target of that incident on May 25, which left his bodyguard Dawood Zakaria dead and solicitor Sylvan Singh injured.

“Police had recently spoken with the man due to concerns about his safety. This man has already been the target of previous shooting attempts,” Thurtell said.

“It’s outrageous that these people have now taken their fight to the streets of Sydney. This is not what we expect in this city.”

He was later charged with possessing an unauthorised gun after a pistol was allegedly found in the vehicle.

A court heard that a drive-by attack on Woodville Rd was the second attempt on Azari’s life this year.

In Brighton Le Sands three months ago, he escaped another attempted hit uninjured.

Prosecutors argued that Azari should not be released on bail because of recent shootings.

“Mr Azari is at the epicentre of this particular tit-for-tat gangland warfare,” prosecutors said.

“The streets will not be safe, it’s all because of Mr Azari and the Allamadine criminal network.”

Azari was granted bail, with the magistrate telling the court he believes he wasn’t a flight risk and that the firearms charges case was weak.

The investigation has been referred to Taskforce Falcon led by State Crime Command with support from the NSW Crime Commission and regional officers to investigate and suppress violent crime in Sydney.

The taskforce has charged 23 people with a total of 53 charges, and taken seven firearms and 20 staged vehicles off the streets.

Minns said the criminals who committed this “shockingly brazen” crime could “expect to spend years inside small jail cells”.

“This is shockingly brazen and NSW Police Force investigators are already hunting down those responsible,” he said.

“We don’t stand for it and NSW Police doesn’t stand for it.”

In a statement released immediately after the shooting, Catley said: “We are deeply concerned by the horrifying events unfolding in Auburn this afternoon.

“Multiple people have been injured in this public place shooting. Our thoughts are with them and their loved ones.

“This kind of violence has no place in our community. It’s horrifying, it’s unacceptable and it shakes the sense of safety we all deserve.

“Police are investigating. A crime scene has been established and surrounding streets closed.”

Footage of the aftermath posted to social media shows a heavily bleeding man being rushed to an ambulance.

The crime scene was taped off. Photo / NewsWire

The man was bleeding heavily from his head.

Solicitor Aqib Javed, who works across the road from the crime, said the scene was confronting to witness.

“I just looked over to the kitchen top [inside the store] and there was a person lying flat out, something went through his chest,” he said.

“It was definitely a very bad scene.”

Local student Abdul Faiz ur Rahman, 21, lives in the apartment block behind where the shooting occurred and although he didn’t hear it unfold he saw the aftermath.

Rahman said: “People were running out, the police came running fast.

“There were two, three cars going away, and people were shouting again and again. I was standing here, I didn’t even go [over] there.”

Business owners in the area told NewsWire they did not hear the shooting, and only became aware something happened when emergency services swarmed the area.

“I was serving a customer, I did not hear any gun sounds, then saw several police, ambulances and lots of people,” a woman said.

“I only heard sirens and police. There’s usually lots of police in this area, but today’s been non stop,” a man said.