NSW police told intended target of Sydney shooting he was on hitlist

The intended target of a botched assassination was warned of threats to his safety in the days before an innocent man was shot dead outside a western Sydney home, in what police believe is the city’s second mistaken identity killing in as many days.

The assailants who shot dead Joshua Macdonald were believed to be targeting a man linked to the notorious Alameddine crime family.

Detectives believe the intended target of the shooting in Merrylands West on Wednesday afternoon was Moshtaba Hafizi.

Moshtaba, who owns the Bruce Street property but does not live there, beat a charge of attempting to acquire illegal drugs last year. His brother, Mustafa, has higher underworld credentials, including five years in prison over a shooting at Parramatta in 2012.

Police sources with knowledge of the investigation but not permitted to speak publicly told the Herald they had formally warned Moshtaba Hafizi several times that his life was at risk, including in the days before Wednesday’s shooting. He was aware the Merrylands West property could be targeted.

Instead of shooting Hafizi, the assailants shot dead Macdonald after one opened fire from the rear passenger door of what is believed to be a stolen Audi.

Macdonald, 40, arrived at the Merrylands West home of a business associate with two children just after 3pm on Wednesday. Macdonald was not known to police and has no links to organised crime. Two children entered the home moments before Macdonald was killed.

Detectives are yet to establish why the brothers may have been targeted and whether the shooting is linked to ongoing conflict between the Alameddine family and rival groups including the self-proclaimed Coconut Cartel. On Tuesday, university student Marco Tapia was shot dead in his family’s Glen Alpine home in what police say was a case of mistaken identity. Detectives are investigating whether the two shootings are linked.

The 23-year-old’s murder drew comparisons to the assassination of plumber John Versace, also 23, whose killing outside his family’s Condell Park home in May last year sparked the establishment of Taskforce Falcon, a 150-strong police operation targeting escalating gangland violence.

The growing list of mistaken identity victims has rocked NSW politics and senior NSW Police. Premier Chris Minns, who is travelling in India, has requested an urgent briefing from Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon overnight.

Lanyon said police would increase the number of high-visibility officers on Sydney’s streets in response to this week’s shootings.

“We can suppress the type of violence we’re seeing,” he said on Thursday afternoon.

“What we are seeing at the moment is not the act of a genuine human, that disregard for human life, to shoot at people that are innocent, or they’re not even certain other people that they’re in a contest with, shows they don’t care.”

Acting Premier Prue Car vowed to support police “in whatever way possible” in their bid to stop the spread of gangland violence.