Notorious underworld figure Bilal Hamze was shot dead in Sydney’s CBD last night in what is being treated as a gangland execution.
As per The Guardian, the 34-year-old was gunned down by several assailants in the city’s Bridge Street on Thursday night, June 17th.
Hamze was known as the cousin of Brothers for Life member Bassam Hamzy, currently locked up in Goulburn Supermax.
The murder is thought to be part of a major escalation in gang violence in the city. Police believe it could be part of an ongoing conflict between rival families.
NSW Police Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said “once you disrupt organised crime networks, there is always going to be some irritation, and this may have been a result of that.”
Superintendent Doherty also said that it was very fortunate that innocent civilians weren’t injured during the incident.
“We’re lucky that we haven’t got more casualties,” he noted. “We are lucky that there is no one else injured. It is a major escalation … There were still people leaving pubs, restaurants and other places and motels.”
The investigation is now underway with police searching the area as well as examining a burnt-out black Audi discovered at Northwood on Sydney’s Lower North Shore that could be linked to the murder.
Detectives are now trying to work out how the assailants knew where he was on Thursday night. It was also confirmed that there had been a contract out on Hamze’s life. “He’s been warned that he was at risk…He sought to live his life the way he wanted to, and he made some choices,” Criminal Groups Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Robert Critchlow said.
“We will be opening doors, kicking down doors, tipping people over, we will talk to them, we will harass them within the bounds of the law to make sure that they know that we are there,” Critchlow also stated. “There will be several arrests that will flow from this.”
Hamze was rushed by paramedics to St Vincent’s Hospital but died shortly after.
