Confronting images have emerged from inside the gym where a Comanchero bikie was gunned down alongside his brother, with paramedics seen desperately trying to revive the bloodied pair.
The outlaw motorcycle club’s Sergeant-at-arms Tarek Zahed is now fighting for life in hospital after being shot in a hail of bullets during a workout with his younger brother – also a notorious gangland figure.
Zahed and Omar were shot multiple times inside the Bodyfit gym in Sydney’s Auburn on Tuesday night at about 8pm, leaving both men with catastrophic injuries.
Omar, believed to be in his 20s, went into cardiac arrest after suffering several gunshot wounds to his stomach, arms and legs – later dying at the scene.
His bikie enforcer brother, 41, was hit by 10 bullets to his body, including to his head, before being rushed to Westmead Hospital where he remains in an ‘extremely’ critical condition.
In the weeks leading up to the horror shooting Zahed was warned by organised crime detectives to ‘stop going to the gym, change your routine’.
His friends even begged him to ‘play it safe’ and stop going to the gym where he was shot after learning that $1million bounty had been put out on him by rivals.
Investigators are now probing whether the latest shooting in Sydney’s tit-for-tat crime sage is linked to the execution of Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad two weeks earlier – as NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb promising that more specialist officers will be assigned to target organised crime and bikie groups.
Police and paramedics are seen trying to save the two men at the gym on Tuesday night after the shooting – with pools of blood seen across the foyer
Tarek Zahed (pictured, right) and brother Omar (left) were gunned down outside a gym on Tuesday night – with Omar dying at the scene after being shot in the head
Police were called to the Bodyfit Gym on Parramatta Road around 8pm on Tuesday night (pictured) where paramedics battled to save the brothers’ lives
‘We have already had many resources committed to this… but we are going to increase our resources particularly with Strike Force Raptor. We will increase the strength of Raptor by 30 officers,’ she told 2GB radio on Wednesday.
‘Enough is enough…. Sydney has had enough.’
The state’s top cop confirmed that police had tried to warn Zahed about the danger he was in but he failed to heed the advice.
‘Some of these people think they are invincible. We try to warm them but what do you do. They just live their lives like they are larger than life,’ she said.
‘A life of crime is not worth it.’
Seemingly unconcerned, the pair were even known to frequent the gym and post pictures to social media showing them working out.
While the deadly shooting of the is thought to be retaliation for the killing of Hamzy-linked Ahmad on April 27 in Greenacre, investigators and underworld sources say the the situation is not that clear cut.
Over a dozen bodies have lined Sydney’s streets as part of the long-running feud between the Hamzy and Alameddine crime clans – but both networks have many enemies.
‘Some of these people are in conflict with a number of other groups so it can be hard to determine whether if it is a direct retaliation or not. But that is certainly a key line of inquiry,’ Commissioner Webb said.
An underworld source told the Daily Telegraph: ‘Everyone’s talking about the whispers around Tarek, but no one knows who is behind it.’
Takek Zahed (seated) and his brother Omar (standing) were gunned down outside a gym in Sydney’s west on Tuesday night. One is dead while the other is fighting for life
A white Audi station wagon was found engulfed in flames nearby, with police investigating its links to the shooting
The gym’s front door has been shattered with bullet holes after the men were shot at 10 times on Tuesday night
The publication reported earlier this week Tarek was regarded as a marked man by heavyweight of the Hamzy crime network long before the bounty was recently placed on his head.
It comes as unlikely union formed between the Alameddine family and the Commancheros, with Zahed under increasing pressure from arch-rivals the Hamzy crew.
Police intercepted a call between jailed Brothers 4 Life gang boss Bassam Hamzy and his brother Ghassan Amoun on October 14, 2020.
Hamzy called his brother from Goulburn Supermax jail asking for Tarek’s phone number, according to NSW Supreme Court documents.
‘Hamzy asked Amoun to contact Emad Sleiman and ‘tell him straight out is he speaking with Tarek Zahed, if he is, get Tarek Zahed’s number off him,’ the court
‘Amoun said Zahed was in jail, but Hamzy said Zahed was definitely not in jail.
‘It was highly likely Zahed was at risk from Hamzy and Hamzy’s associates in the community.’
Fifteen months later, Amoun was gunned down as he left a beauty salon at Wentworthville in Sydney’s west.
Several days after Ahmad’s death, Zahred, known as the ‘Balenciaga Bikie’, was arrested and charged with two counts of contravening serious crime prevention order as NSW Police continued its crackdown on organised crime.
Tarek Zahed (pictured) and his brother Omar were shot at 10 times outside Bodyfit Gym on Parramatta Road just after 8pm on Tuesday night
The brothers (pictured) are believed to be close with recent photos on social media and TikTok showing the pair going to the gym and holidaying together
The pair were known to frequent the gym, with those close to Zahed warning him to alter his normal routine after a $1million bounty was placed on the head of the high-profile Commancheros member (pictured, police at the scene on Tuesday night)
The 41-year-old had been widely tipped to be the next national president of the outlaw motorcycle club after former leader Mick Murray was also arrested last week.
It’s understood he had been aware his life had been in danger for almost a year and was granted a travel exemption to flee NSW lockdown to travel to Turkey last September.
He continued his lavish lifestyle upon return to Australia, despite warnings from police his life was under threat.
Tarek moved to Melbourne, where he was infamously caught interrupting play at the Australian Open men’s final in January.
Police have launched an investigation into Tuesday night’s shooting with the assistance of police attached to the State Crime Command’s Raptor and Criminal Groups Squads.
Paramedics found Tarek and Omar with bullet wounds ‘all over their bodies’.
Inspector Kevin McSweeney said it was an horrific and confronting scene that unfolded in front of several witnesses and it was lucky no other members of the public were injured.
‘They were both found to be in extremely critical conditions. At the scene we stabilised the patients as best we could.’
The brothers were shot while going to the gym in Auburn on Tuesday night (pictured, police outside after the attack)
Paramedics are seen treating the brothers at the scene – with one confirmed dead and the other in a critical condition
A woman sits with her head in her hand inside the gym on Parramatta Road in Auburn after a Commanchero leader and his brother were sprayed with bullets
Another man sits on a workout ball inside the gym as police cordon off the area around the fitness centre on Tuesday night
A white Audi station wagon was found engulfed in flames in nearby Berala, with police investigating its links to the shooting.
Zahed, his brothers Abdul and Omar and their associate Raouf Mousawel were also busted by police breaking lockdown laws in August last year after they were spotted walking in Drummoyne in the city’s inner-west about 2am.
The men allegedly became angry when police questioned why they were outside, and claimed they lived together and were ‘just exercising’.
Abdul and Omar are believed to live in Yagoona in Sydney’s south-west – more than 20km away from where they were allegedly spotted by police.
Public health orders at the time banned anyone in Greater Sydney from travelling more than 5km from their home for exercise.
A prominent Commancheros bikie and his brother have been sprayed by bullets outside a Sydney gym – with one dead and the other fighting for his life (pictured, paramedics at the scene)
Zahed had been living within 5km of the Bay Run but was alleged to have broken lockdown rules by exercising with more than one other person.
The Comanchero enforcer, who was regularly seen wearing high-end designer clothing, once told journalists outside of court he wanted the record to state about one of his offences.
He then said he was wearing a Versace shirt and not Gucci as some stories wrongly depicted.
In another high-profile incident at the at the swanky a’Mare restaurant, in Sydney’s Barangaroo casino, CCTV footage captured Zahed punching another man in the bathroom.
The 41-year-old Zahed had been widely tipped to be the next national president of the outlaw motorcycle club after former leader Mick Murray was also arrested last week (pictured being extradited from Melbourne to Sydney in March, 2021)
A man vapes while standing alongside police outside the Bodyfit Gym in Sydney’s south-west
During the assault on this occasion, he was wearing a Balenciaga shirt, earning his nickname ‘Balenciaga Bikie’.
Recently family members had encouraged Zahed to stop living his flashy and public lifestyle after the bounty was placed on the head of the man set to take over the violent group.
The 41-year-old was the frontrunner due to his close relationship with exiled drug lord Mark Buddle and links to criminals in both NSW and Victoria.