'Thick and fast': Daunting prediction after two women shot dead in Sydney
The brutal shooting of two Sydney women on Saturday has authorities fearing the worst, with police believing it's likely linked to gangland violence in the city.
And if it is, retaliation attacks will come "thick and fast" following the deaths of 48-year-old mother Lametta Fadlallah and Amy Al-Hazzouri, 38, who were gunned down outside a Panania home in Sydney's southwest.
Former NSW detective Peter Moroney told Channel Nine's Today that "the manner, the calculation and the brutality" of the murders is worrying, noting the shooter had a "clear intent" to kill.
It's believed Ms Fadlallah — who was known to police — was the intended target and Ms Al-Hazzouri was caught in the crossfire when the car they were sitting in was sprayed with up to 17 bullets.
A 16-year-old girl and a man aged 20 were also in the car, police said, however they miraculously escaped unscathed, but were incredibly shaken.
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"It's not known if it's linked to the current stream of violence we have at the moment. If it is, the retaliation will come thick and it will come fast," Detective Moroney said.
His words echoed those of Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty, Homicide Squad Commander, who just one day earlier spoke about an "unwritten rule" in Sydney's underworld.
"There used to be an unwritten law that you don’t touch family and you don’t touch women," he told media on Sunday.
"That’s been thrown out of the window, they don’t care anymore."
The Daily Telegraph's veteran crime editor Mark Morri said there has never been a gangland hit of a female like what was witnessed on Saturday, and that gunning down women in public is generally unheard of.
"To slay a female in public, even one suspected of being linked to the underworld goes against so many rules of the so-called code criminals profess to have," he wrote on Monday, fearing children could be next.
Slain woman linked to criminal underworld
As police continue to investigate the murders of the two women, it was revealed that Ms Fadlallah was once married to the leader of a Middle eastern crime gang, Shadi Derbas.
The Telopea Street gang dates back two decades, The Daily Telegraph reported. They "ruled the area in the late 90s", a source told the publication.
She later remarried another criminal heavyweight, Hilal Safi, and was known to mix with some of Sydney’s major criminals.
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