Dramatic CCTV shows 'attempted assassination' in Aussie car park
The shocking footage shows a man leap in front of another and fire over 12 rounds from two handheld guns.
WARNING – DISTURBING IMAGES: Dramatic CCTV footage has been released in the hunt to trace two men responsible for a failed assassination attempt that took place in a suburban Sydney car park last year.
The botched killing saw a man clinging to life after "at least 12 shots" were fired at him from two hand-held weapons, into his car. In the footage, a man wearing a black hood and face mask can be seen approaching Vailena Koloamatangi, 27, on September 12, as he attempted to remove his car from a Campsie parking garage just after 9.20pm.
Koloamatangi was inside the car when he was approached by the unknown man, who fired two guns at him up to 12 times, according to NSW Police. A second man, Ahmad Ezai, was also inside the car at the time but managed to escape uninjured.
The shocking vision shows the hooded man run through the Canterbury Road car park with both guns drawn before firing multiple times, then quickly getting back into a stolen white Mercedes — driven by his accomplice — fleeing the scene, leaving Koloamatangi for dead and his bullet-riddled silver hatchback behind.
Gunmen fled in stolen car, later found burnt-out
The gunman is being described as being of African appearance, over 200cm tall and was wearing all black with a face covering at the time. Details about the second man, the driver, have not been made clear.
Three burnt-out stolen cars, including the white Mercedes, were later found on fire in the nearby suburbs of Kingsgrove, Berala and Birrong.
The incident marked the the second time in three years officers had investigated a shooting linked to Koloamatangi, who is known to police, after he presented to hospital in 2020 with gunshot wounds in a serious condition.
Residents of the apartment complex above the parking lot described hearing "bangs" coming from the garage at the time. "I heard a bang but my missus said she heard three," a man told The Daily Telegraph.
"It was a different sound, a basement noise. I didn’t think it would be a shooting... It’s normal these days (shootings) but I didn’t think it would happen there, it’s weird."
Now, some five months later, police are releasing the CCTV in the hope members of the public with information pertaining to the attack will come forward.
Public urged to help police
Police say they now believe the Mercedes was parked at Daniel Street Park on Virgil Street in Greystanes, 25 kilometres away in the city's west, for weeks before the shooting. Not long after the failed attempted assassination, the car crashed into a home in nearby Kingsgrove and caught fire.
The next day, they found a black Kia on fire on Wilshire Road in Agnes Banks, north of Penrith, and on September 20 they found a silver Nissan Pulsar alight on Bellamy Farm Road in West Pennant Hills, north of Parramatta.
Two men wearing balaclavas were seen fleeing the Nissan across Currawong Reserve to Timberline Avenue and police believe all five cars were used as getaway vehicles.
Anyone with information is being urged call Crime Stoppers without delay.
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