Eight shots fired outside Sydney mall

The distraught daughter of the victim of the Bankstown shopping centre shooting called her cousin from the scene to say "Come get me! He's dead! He's dead!"

Standover man Walid "Wally" Ahmad is believed to have been shot dead at the centre in Sydney's southwest this morning.

Mr Ahmad's niece, who asked not to be named, told news.com.au that she was at a family gathering at a home nearby when she received a phone call that her uncle had been shot.

As the niece raced to the shopping centre, she received a panicking, screaming call from Mr Ahmad's daughter, her cousin.

"She said, 'Come get me! He's dead! He's dead!'" the niece told news.com.au in a shaken and tearful state.

"I need to get to her. She's all by herself, she's alone."

When asked who may have targeted Mr Ahmad, the niece said: "I don't know, I don't know. The most important thing is finding my cousin."

Later, news.com.au witnessed the niece and the daughter hug as they were reunited.

The shopping centre's management ushered family members to nearby coffee house, where more than a dozen police officers were gathered.

An elderly woman, believed to be the mother of the victim, was seen slumped in a wheelchair, quivering, with her hands covering her face.

The family were agitated as they left the area, demanding that no pictures be taken.
Earlier, police confirmed one person was dead and two others injured after the shooting at the major shopping centre in Sydney's southwest.

Early reports said a man aged about 40 went into cardiac arrest. The condition of the two injured people was not known.

It is understood two people have been detained at the scene, including the unidentified, handcuffed man pictured. Police told news.com.au that nobody has been formally arrested.

A Bankstown resident working at the shopping centre, who asked not to be named, told AAP that "police arrested the wrong people to start with".

He said a Mercedes was stopped and searched by police on the corner of Jacobs Street and Rickard Road, but police failed to find a weapon.

"It happened in front of us," he said. "They handcuffed the wrong person." He said police found the right car, a black 4WD, at the rooftop car park near the gym.

A woman was taken to hospital after a shooting at a Bankstown shopping centre. Photo / Channel 9

Police have warned drivers to avoid the area around Bankstown Central Shopping Centre because of traffic delays.

There are unconfirmed reports that the man who died was Walid Ahmad, a known standover man with a previous manslaughter conviction, according to The Australian.

It is believed Mr Ahmad is connected to a fatal shooting at smash repair business, A Team Smash Repair, where one man, Abdullah El Masri, was shot dead.

It is understood Ahmad, who was convicted of the 2002 killing of Mayez Dany, was at the smash repair business when the argument broke out.

The Daily Telegraph is reporting that he has been on the run since the fatal shooting at Condell Park.

Officers were called to the shopping centre about 11.50am after reports of a shooting. There were unconfirmed reports of eight shots being fired in the carpark.

A witness having coffee outside a nearby cafe said she heard the commotion and everybody got up and started walking away.

A Channel 7 video shows one of the victims being asked whether he was OK as he was being wheeled away on a stretcher.

When asked what happened, the victim said: "Firework".

The previous shooting at the smash repair business left one man, Safwan Charbaji, 32, dead with gunshot wound to the chest. Another, Abdullah El Masri, 35, was left in a critical condition after being shot in the face. He remains in an induced coma.

The shooting happened on the afternoon of April 9 in Condell Park, a suburb of Bankstown.

Witnesses reported hearing an argument before a number of shots were fired.

At the time, authorities said the men were known to police.

"We believe that the people did know each other," a police spokesman told media on Saturday, adding that it was unclear whether the men were shot by a third party.

At least six ambulances and a dozen police cars were at the scene and television footage showed paramedics putting a man on a stretcher.

Police said they arrived to find two men and a woman injured; one of the men died at the scene.

A crime scene has been established, which will be examined by detectives and forensic specialists.

The shopping centre car park has been closed as a precaution.

"It's quite possible that a meeting has taken place."