Two women shot dead in Sydney’s south-west killed in targeted ‘assassination’, police say

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/14/two-women-shot-dead-in-sydneys-south-west

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The women – aged 48 and 39 – died after the offender opened fire on them as they sat in a car on Saturday night

New South Wales police say the shooting that killed two women on a Sydney street was a planned and methodical “assassination”.

Two women – aged 48 and 39 – died after the offender opened fire on them as they sat in a car in Panania. Two other people also in the car – a girl aged 16 and man aged 20 – were not seriously injured.

Investigators believe the shooting occurred on Hendy Avenue in Panania before the vehicle travelled to Weston Street in Revesby where emergency services were contacted before 9pm.

Officers found the two women inside the vehicle. The older woman could not be revived and died at the scene. The younger woman was taken to Liverpool hospital in a critical condition where she later died.

Homicide squad commander Danny Doherty described the attack as an “organised, methodical and planned murder”.

“Significant resources attended last night, and significant resources are there now,” the detective superintendent said on Sunday afternoon.

“That will be ongoing because this is an appalling attack on two women who lost their lives in a planned assassination. It’s not acceptable … it’s unprecedented.”

An investigation is underway following the fatal shooting of two women in Revesby last night.https://t.co/kNSsELpUK5

The 48-year-old woman, a mother of two, was known to police, Doherty said, because of past relationships.

“One theory is that she would have been more than likely the intended target,” he said. “All four people in the car were targeted by an offender that fired a number of bullets into the vehicle.”

Doherty said there was no evidence of a link to current bikie gang conflicts but the killing bore the hallmarks of organised crime.

Police are concerned the attack seemed to breach an “unwritten law” of criminal gangs not to target families or women. “I think they just don’t care any more,” Doherty said.

Doherty said there were a number of other crime scenes in Revesby, Yagoona and Moorebank that police were canvassing and examining.

“Some vehicles were found to be burnt out and investigations are still ongoing as to whether they’re actually linked to the murder,” he said. “Those vehicles will be forensically examined.”

Strikeforce Laurantus has been established to investigate the double fatality. Officers are searching for ballistic evidence and other clues across a range of crime scenes and asking the public for assistance.

Anyone with information, dashcam or CCTV footage from the surrounding areas is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.