A man who was shot dead in a brazen attack in Sydney’s west has been named in media as Osama Momani, 22, who was out on bail over an alleged violent home invasion.
Momani was not alone when he was shot once while getting into the passenger side of a car in Winston Hills on Tuesday night.
He ran from the car, seeking help from residents, and later died in hospital.
The driver escaped unscathed and is being questioned by police.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Momani was awaiting trial in the NSW District Court over charges including aggravated break and enter; robbery in company; and reckless wounding; after he and another man allegedly broke into a home in Chester Hill in September 2023.
The gunman responsible for the targeted attack is on the run as police launch an investigation amid a spate of fatal public shootings across Sydney.
It’s the second public shooting in days after one man died in a gangland hit on two men outside a pub on Sunday, and came ahead of police nabbing the alleged gunman behind an underworld murder on a busy road in June.
Initial investigations showed the man shot on Tuesday was targeted but it was unclear if the shooting was gang-related, Superintendent Barry Vincent said.
“We are out looking for these offenders. This early stage would indicate this is a targeted shooting,” he said on Wednesday.
“I want to reassure the public that their local police and NSW Police are out there seeking to prevent these shootings and bring these people before the court as soon as possible.”
The victim is yet to be formally identified.
A burnt-out SUV believed to be linked to the fatal shooting was found in the nearby suburb of Old Toongabbie four hours after the shooting, Vincent said.
The homicide is among more than a dozen public shootings, arson attacks and kidnappings across Sydney since Christmas, leading police to set up the 150-officer-strong Taskforce Falcon in May to crush the underworld warfare.
A 39-year-old man was killed and a 31-year-old man sustained multiple injuries when shots were fired outside an inner Sydney pub on Sunday.
Meanwhile, taskforce detectives arrested a man on Wednesday for his alleged role in a fatal shooting of Sydney underworld figure Dawood Zakaria in May.
The 32-year-old died after the ute he was in, along with a lawyer who was injured, was riddled with bullets in Granville from the occupants of a nearby Mercedes shooting several rounds.
Samimjan Azari, seated in the rear of the ute and believed to be the intended target, was later targeted in a shooting in a kebab shop in Auburn in June, but escaped without serious injury.
-with AAP
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