Sydney has been rocked by another brutal gangland execution with a top underworld figure gunned down by “meticulous” hitmen on a suburban street in the city’s south-west.
But the brazen shooting is just the latest in a string of calculated murders that has rocked Sydney’s south-west in the last two years.
On Wednesday night, Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad, 39, was shot dead outside an associate’s home in Sydney’s southwest suburb of Greenacre.
A black Porsche sedan and black BMW were found on fire at Strathfield and Belmore as police launched a large-scale manhunt.
Detectives are investigating whether the targeted shooting on the “marked man” was related to the bloody and ongoing dispute between the Alameddine and Hamzy crime families.
The Ahmad family were previously a competing force in Sydney’s underworld, but their power reportedly diminished after the death of Brownie’s standover brother Walid and the jailing of another brother named Ahmad.
It’s still unclear why Brownie was targeted, but Homicide Squad Commander Danny Doherty admitted there was a “long list of people that would like to see harm to Brownie”.
The act of violence is the latest chapter in a string of fatal shootings that likely began in April 2016 with the death of Safwan Charbaji.
The 32-year-old was shot by Ahmad’s brother, Walid ‘Wally’ Ahmad.
In the aftermath, the attack saw Mahmoud go to jail on a manslaughter charge and his brother, Walid killed just weeks later in broad daylight hit.
Here, we track the deaths that have occurred between then and now.
April 9, 2016: Safwan Charbaji
The death that sparked a gangland war began with a confrontation over a $100,000 debt that saw underworld figure Safwan Charbaji killed, and another man severely injured.
It’s believed Charbaji was a relative of known Alameddine associates.
Charbaji and three others attempted to broker a solution, visiting the A Team Smash Repairs in Condell Park.
The scrap yard was owned by Mahmoud Ahmad’s brother, Walid ‘Wally’ Ahmad.
His death led to a string of fatal shootings which would plague Sydney’s underbelly for the next six years.
April 29, 2016: Walid ‘Wally’ Ahmad
Just weeks after Charbaji’s death, Hamzy associate and standover man Walid ‘Wally’ Ahmad was killed in a horrific daylight shooting.
The 41-year-old was gunned down outside the Centro cafe at Bankstown Central Shopping Centre in a spray of 11 bullets fired from a pistol.
In an attack that lasted seconds, the father-of-six was struck by seven bullets in the back and chest. CCTV captured a hooded gunman shooting Ahmad in the back before fleeing the scene.
To date nobody has been charged for his murder and the case was referred to the unsolved homicide squad as of April 2020.
October 25, 2016: Hamad Assaad
A notorious Sydney hitman with the word “executioner” tattooed across his chest, Hamad Assaad was killed by two men at his Georges Hall home.
Two men wearing hooded jumpers and tracksuit killed Assaad in daylight at 9.20am.
The men appeared from a stolen black Audi and pulled onto Assaad’s driveway, before running into his home and firing multiple shots at the hitman.
At the time police were investigating whether Assaad’s death was linked to the original attack at A Team Smash Repairs or the death of Walid Ahmad.
Police documents tendered in court show that detectives had named Mahmoud Ahmad (Walid’s brother) as a suspect involved in Assaad’s death, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Assad was also suspected to be behind the botched murder attempt on the Hamzy family’s matriarch, Maha.
March 10, 2017: Kemel ‘Blackie’ Barakat
A Hells Angels’ associate and Ahmad family enforcer, Kemel ‘Blackie’ Barakat, 29, was gunned down in his Mortlake unit, while asleep and in bed with his mistress Fatima Hage.
His wife, Amanda Barakat was on a holiday in Thailand at the time. It is not suggested that either woman has engaged in any wrongdoing.
Barakat was known as an enforcer for the Ahmad family and had been linked to the murder of Hamad Assaad.
Court proceedings revealed he was betrayed by his friend Ahmed Jaghbir who supplied the killers with a key.
Although Barakat’s killers have never been arrested or charged, Supreme Court Justice David Davies found Jaghbir guilty of being an accessory before the fact to the murder of Mr Barakat and handed him an 11-year sentence.
In court, Ms Hage described her lover’s last moments. She said Barakat pushed her head away from him before she heard multiple gunshots.
“I checked myself and I wasn’t shot. I then moved over to Kemel.
“Kemel was coughing and he looked at me. He said: ‘I’m sorry.’
“I said: ‘Don’t be sorry … Repeat after me. We then went through an Arabic prayer twice before Kemel stopped breathing.”
October 19, 2020: Mejid Hamzy
The brother of Bassam Hamzy - the imprisoned Brothers for Life gang founder - Mejid Hamzy was killed after two men fired 14 rounds of bullets into his Condell Park home.
Mejid was suspected of being involved in the death of Hamad Assaad, and his death initiated another string of shootings that has decimated the Hamzy family.
June 16, 2021: Bilal Hamze
Underworld figure and cousin of Bassam Hamzy, Bilal Hamze was sprayed with six bullets in a drive-by shooting while leaving the ritzy Kid Kyoto restaurant in Sydney’s CBD.
The attack left Hamze drenched in blood in an alleyway off Bridge Street and he was later pronounced dead at St Vincent’s Hospital.
August 6, 2021: Shady Kanj
Low-level Alameddine associate and Sydney drug dealer Shady Kanj, 22, was shot in the head inside a car in Chester Hill at 11pm on August 6, 2021.
It’s believed a gunman fired into the car which was carrying Shady Kanj and a friend.
October 20, 2021: Salim and Toufik Hamze
Sitting in a red Nissan ute in Guildford, Salim Hamzy, 18, and his father Toufik, 64, were killed after their car was hit by a round of bullets. While his son died at the scene, Toufik was pronounced dead in hospital.
At the time, police described the attack as a “retribution-style, drug turf-style” attack, with the shoot out occurring on a quiet suburban street at 9am in the morning.
January 5, 2022: Ghassan Amoun
Another notorious gangland figure connected to the Brothers 4 Life gang, Ghassan Amoun was also killed in a brazen daylight execution.
The younger of Bilal Hamzy, Amoun had just been released from prison when he was shot in the head while sitting in a BMW outside an apartment building in western Sydney.
The crime boss was leaving a Laser Lady beauty clinic in South Wentworthville when a stolen grey 2017 Mini Cooper pulled up, with a gunman in a balaclava firing the shot.
April 27, 2022: Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad
The latest death in the Hamzy and Alameddine feud, Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad was killed in an attack that police have described as a “meticulous assassination”.
According to reports, his death had been a long time coming and Ahmad had repeatedly ignored police warnings about his life being in danger.
Ahmad and his associates had been receiving warnings up until last week, police confirmed.
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“He had been warned in the past that he was a marked man but despite that, he did not heed the warnings,” Detective Inspector Doherty said.
“He did not want to hide and wanted to carry on his normal criminal activities to deal with the same associates and he has borne the consequences of that.”
In a way, this chapter that began with the death of Charbaji has somewhat come full circle. However, only time will tell if the latest shooting will lead to a ceasefire or new wave of violence.
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