A 48-year-old mother and a 39-year-old woman have been shot dead inside a car in Sydney’s south-west overnight in what police believe is a “murder”.
The women, identified as Lametta Fadlallah and Amneh Al-Hazzouri, died after their car was sprayed with bullets near a house on Hendy Avenue, Panania.
The state’s homicide commander said criminals have “thrown the rule book out the window” by breaking an unwritten rule and stooping to a new level.
Lametta Fadlallah was murdered in Sydney. (new)
NSW Police Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said the shooting was an “organised and methodical murder” aimed at killing Fadlallah, a mother of two.
“This is an appalling attack on two women who have lost their lives in a planned murder, a real murder, on a public street in Sydney,” Doherty said.
“It is not acceptable by any standards. It is truly unprecedented and we are determined to get answers for the family.”
Police said Fadlallah was sitting in the back seat of a car outside her Hendy Avenue home when the barrel of a gun hit the window and an attacker suddenly opened fire.
Hairdresser Amneh Al-Hazzouri, known as Amy to her friends, also in the back, was caught in a barrage of deadly fire.
Hairdresser Amneh Al-Hazzouri, known as Amy to her friends, also in the back, was caught in a barrage of deadly fire. (new)
A 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man were inside the car at the time and “were shaken but not injured” in the attack.
Sources told 9News that Al-Hazzouri and his young friends were only there to comb the elderly woman’s hair before going out for the night.
She was rushed to Liverpool Hospital but could not be saved
“It’s not acceptable by any standards, it’s really unprecedented,” Doherty said.
“Everyone should be horrified that these two women have lost their lives, and on a public street.”
NSW Police Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said the killing of two women was organized and targeted. (9 News)
The fight to save the two seriously injured women unfolded on Peter Aitkin’s doorstep.
“They worked with these two women so quickly it was unbelievable,” he said.
Police said the shooter’s motive was still unclear, but that Fadlallah was known to police.
She was the longtime girlfriend of Halal Safi, a prominent drug dealer who was found dead this year.
Doherty dismissed any speculation the incident could be linked to recent gangland shootings in Sydney, saying police would “treat it on its own merits”.
Two women were found with gunshot wounds inside a car in Sydney’s south-west. (9 News)
What investigators say could be a network of attackers, left a business card.
Police believe four burned-out cars found nearby shortly after the shooting may hold clues to the circumstances of the murder.
Cars, including two Mercedes, were set alight on Presland Ave in Revesby, Devlin Drive in Wattle Grove and Elizabeth Crescent in Yagoona.
Police captured security footage believed to show the dark-clad attackers pouring petrol into cars and driving off.
Fadlallah was sitting in the back seat of a car outside her Hendy Avenue home when there was a bang on the window with the barrel of a gun and an attacker suddenly opened fire. (new)
“There was an unwritten law with the criminal element that you don’t touch the family,” Doherty said.
“It looks like that rule book has been thrown out the window.
“It shows how low they’ve come at the moment, that anyone associated with targets, doesn’t discriminate whether you’re male or female.”