Police say the “rule books have been thrown out the window” after the deadly double shooting of two women in suburban Sydney on Saturday night.
Lametta Fadlallah, 49, and Amner ‘Amy’ Al Hazouri, 39, were killed after a hail of bullets were fired into a car in Panania, just before 9pm.
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Police believe the shooting occurred at Hendy Avenue, Panania, before the vehicle traveled to Weston Street, Revesby, where emergency services were contacted.
Local woman Rebecca, who was preparing her young kids for bed, said there was no mistaking the sound that rang out in the quiet street just before 9pm.
“My kids heard it; we all did,” Rebecca told The Daily Telegraph.
“Like bang bang bang, yeah, we knew straight away it was a gun.”
The vehicle with four people inside it then sped away for about a kilometer before coming to a stop in nearby Revesby.
Peter Aitkin was sitting on his veranda when the victims’ car pulled up directly outside.
“There was a lot of yelling, but I had no idea what it was all about,” the retired firefighter told The Daily Telegraph.
“I thought at first the woman in the back might have had a heart attack and that’s why the car has pulled up.”
The same commotion prompted a neighbor to call triple-0.
“The man was yelling at the woman to get back in the car,” the neighbor said.
“She was screaming, I couldn’t really understand what she was saying but she was hysterical, so I called the police.”
Emergency services arrived at the scene to find Fadlallah and Al Hazouri inside the car with gunshot wounds.
Fadlallah, identified as a mother of two, could not be revived and died at the scene.
Al Hazouri was taken in a critical condition to Liverpool Hospital, where she later died.
A girl, 16, and man, 20, were also in the car at the time and were left shaken but physically unhurt, Homicide Squad commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said.
He said the other occupants were incredibly lucky not to have been killed or seriously injured.
“This is an appalling attack on two women, who lost their lives in a planned murder and assassination that’s happened in a public street in Sydney,” Doherty said on Sunday.
“It’s not acceptable by any standards. It’s unprecedented, really, and we’re determined to get the answers for the family.”
Crime editor of The Daily Telegraph, Mark Morri, told Sunrise there was a big difference between this murder and other gangland shootings in Sydney.
“To actually kill a female in public like this, like they are a gangland figure, I’ve never seen it in the 40 years I’ve been here,” he said.
“Not to say that women haven’t been killed, they have… but the big difference we have seen with this one is where the rule book has been thrown out.”
Burnt-out cars were found in nearby suburbs in the hours following the attack and police are investigating if the vehicles are linked to the shooting.
Security vision seized by police shows attackers in dark clothing pouring petrol on the cars before making off.
“These are the hallmarks of a planned attack,” Doherty said.
“It was methodical, it was planned.”
Police were familiar with Fadlallah for having past connections to underworld figures, and one theory is that she was the intended target of the attack.
She had been in a long-term relationship with Halal Safi, a standover man and drug dealer found dead earlier this year.
Doherty said the three other people in the vehicle had no links to organized crime.
Al Hazzouri, a hairdresser known as Amy to her friends, is considered to have been an innocent bystander caught up in a barrage of deadly gunfire.
He urged the public to come forward with information about the attack.
“The time is now. This is unprecedented,” Doherty said.
“We should be asking questions, how could this happen? How did we get to this point, where two women have lost their lives in Sydney, in a public street?”
Doherty said underworld figures used to operate by “unwritten laws” under which women and children were protected from being attacked – but it appeared these rules no longer applied.
“I think this has just demonstrated how low they’ve got at this point, where any person that may be associated with someone who they want to target … they don’t discriminate, whether you’re male or female,” he said.
“The rule books have been thrown out the window.”
Strike Force Laurantus has been established to investigate the incident.
Anyone who may have information, or dashcam or CCTV footage from the surrounding areas, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Van owner confronts would-be thief.
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