Tributes are being paid to a Sydney hairdresser believed to be an innocent party caught up in a targeted shooting in the city’s south-west at the weekend.
Key points:
- Amy Hazouri was identified as an “innocent” victim of Sydney’s latest shooting
- Her sister says she was supporting her family back in Lebanon
- Lametta Fadlallah, who was known to police, was the second woman killed
Lametta Fadlallah, 48, and Amy Hazouri, 39, were hit by a hail of bullets while sitting in a car outside the former’s home on Hendy Avenue, Panania, on Saturday night.
Also in the car were a 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old-man, who was driving. They were both uninjured.
The man drove the vehicle to Weston Street, Revesby, where emergency services were called.
Ms Fadlallah was pronounced dead from several gunshot wounds about 8.50pm, and Ms Hazouri succumbed to her injuries at Liverpool Hospital.
More than a dozen shots can be heard ringing out in CCTV footage taken from a nearby property on Hendy Avenue.
The footage also captures a car speeding down the road seconds after the shooting.
Ms Hazouri, who police said had no criminal links, worked as a hairdresser at a salon in Bankstown.
A fundraiser has been set up by her sister, Manal Raunegger, to help pay for Ms Hazouri’s body to be sent back to their native Lebanon.
Ms Raunegger said her “beautiful sister” was an “innocent party.”
“Amy was the sole provider for our family in Lebanon that is currently struggling with the economic crisis in Lebanon,” she wrote.
Ms Hazouri’s workplace shared an image paying tribute to her on Sunday.
“We are shattered, our heart is broken,” the post read.
“You left us too soon, may your memory be eternal. God bless your soul. Until we meet again.”
When contacted by the ABC, boss Jocelyne Chidiac declined to comment but said “we are in so much pain.”
Police believe Ms Hazouri was a “completely innocent party” caught up in an assassination.
Investigators confirmed 48-year-old Ms Fadlallah was known to police and had “past relationships with other known identities” in the underworld.
Ms Fadlallah was previously married to the late Hilal Safi, a former Kings Cross standover man.
Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said police were investigating whether her criminal associations were behind the targeted hit.
“One theory is she would have been, more than likely, the intended target,” he said.
Superintendent Doherty said the shooting of two women was a new low in Sydney’s gangland.
“There used to be an unwritten law with the criminal element, especially in organized crime, that you don’t touch family and you don’t touch women,” he said.
“I think that rule of engagement from the law book has been thrown out the window.”
There have now been 15 people killed in gang-related shootings in Sydney since mid-2020.
The latest incident is not believed to be linked to other underworld feuds which have claimed the lives of known gangsters.
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