A man in his early 20s has been fatally shot in an alleged home invasion in Sydney’s south-west that police believe was a “targeted attack”. A homicide investigation is underway, with the alleged offenders still at large.
Incident details
Acting superintendent Gretchin Atkins said the man, who was yet to be formally identified, was at his Glen Alpine home with his family in the early hours of Tuesday morning when multiple individuals allegedly broke in. Emergency services were called to the property at about 3.40am, Atkins said, where officers found the man with a gunshot wound. He died at the scene.
Officers were told the unknown offenders fled the scene shortly before police arrived. “We believe at this point in time it is a targeted attack, that is all the information that we’ve been able to gather at this time,” Atkins said. “Everything is certainly subject to our inquiries.”
Investigation and appeal
A crime scene has been established and an investigation is underway, with the assistance of the New South Wales crime command’s homicide squad. Atkins said police had confirmed there were “multiple” alleged perpetrators behind the attack but there was “a lot we don’t know”. “We are appealing to any person who was in the area, who saw, whether cars or people, who can assist us with our current investigation, our inquiries,” she said.
The victim was only known to police for a traffic offence, Atkins said, and otherwise had no known criminal involvement. She said his family were assisting with inquiries.
Context and response
Atkins also confirmed police were “aware” of reports of a social media post shared by an alleged Sydney gangland figure on Tuesday, claiming a shooting had been a case of mistaken identity. “A young man has lost his life today and that’s obviously just tragic,” she said. “There were family who were home and as I said, they’re assisting us and being very, very helpful. It’s an active crime scene and we’re obviously waiting for a lot of that information from our forensics who are on the scene.”
The incident comes three days after a separate home invasion in Guilford where a 28-year-old man was fatally shot, also in the early hours of the morning. NSW Police made no suggestion the cases were linked. It also follows the separate kidnapping murder of 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian earlier this year, who was abducted from his home in Sydney’s north in a case of mistaken identity.
