An innocent woman and an underworld figure who recently survived an attempt on his life are two of three people who have been shot in broad daylight outside a busy restaurant in Sydney’s west.
Emergency services rushed to South Parade in Auburn at about 1.15pm on Monday after two masked gunmen shot 26-year-old Samimjan Azari, a 50-year-old woman and an unknown male who were standing near the doorway of the M Brothers kebab shop.
Police revealed the 50-year-old woman was shot twice in the torso while the unknown man was shot in the face and Azari suffered wounds to his arm and shoulder.
Azari survived an attempt on his life just three weeks ago, when he was shot at while travelling in the back seat of a ute at Granville on May 25.
Police recently warned that Azari was at the ‘epicentre’ of gangland tensions in the city.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley expressed her horror at an innocent woman getting caught up in the gangland shooting during a press conference on Monday.
‘All she did was go to work and she has been caught up in this shocking event,’ she said.
‘It’s one thing for criminals to be shooting each other but when innocent people get caught up, this will not be tolerated.’
Witnesses said they heard up to eight bullets fired before hearing people screaming for help.
NSW Ambulance paramedics are currently treating three people with gunshot wounds.
A crime scene has been established, with South Parade and surrounding streets closed to the public as detectives begin their inquiries.
The shooting took place on a busy retail strip, outside the M Brothers’ Cafe and Restaurant and Auburn Fresh Juice Centre.
Video captured the moment paramedics raced a man into an ambulance while he was bleeding heavily from his head.
At the time of the shooting, the area was bustling with people on their lunch break and heading to the nearby Auburn train station.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said those responsible for the shootings can expect to spend years in prison.
‘This is shockingly brazen and NSW Police Force investigators are already hunting down those responsible,’ he said.
‘We don’t stand for it and NSW Police doesn’t stand for it.
‘People committing this kind of violence can expect to be arrested, charged and to spend years inside small jail cells,’ he said.
The shooting comes less than three weeks after Police Minister Catley announced the formation of Taskforce Falcon — a new strike force targeting a recent spate of underworld shootings.
Catley said she was ‘deeply concerned’ by the brazen crime.
‘Multiple people have been injured in this public place shooting. Our thoughts are with them and their loved ones,’ she said.
‘This kind of violence has no place in our community. It’s horrifying, it’s unacceptable and it shakes the sense of safety we all deserve.’
A police helicopter has been circling over the North Auburn and Lidcombe areas.
Traffic has banked up on Rawson Street after police closed South Parade and surrounding streets to the public.
Abdul Fez, 21, who moved to Auburn from southern India two years ago, says he now feels unsafe living there due to a surge in underworld activity.
‘ was one of the safest countries to live, but all these guys make it dangerous.’
He said locals had been rocked by another shooting in Chester Hill, approximately 12-minutes away from Auburn, just last week.
The Chester Hill home was sprayed with bullets, while a suspected getaway car found burnt-out nearby.
Sanjay Awal, 29, lives within two streets of Monday’s shooting and he and his friends have been left rocked by the shooting.
Mr Awal said he and much of the Nepalese community operate businesses in the area.
‘This is my daily road. You don’t think this is going to happen. Here and Parramatta more crime is happening, it’s scary.’