Campsie shooting: Target survived identical hit a few years ago

Grim photos of the blood-soaked underground carpark where a man was shot in the head and chest reveal how the suspected underworld assassination attempt unfolded into chaos as the gunmen ambushed their victim.

Vailena Koloamatangi was gunned down in one of the basement levels of an apartment block on Canterbury Road, in Campsie, before three burnt out cars were discovered in neighbouring suburbs in the city’s south-west on Tuesday night. 

The 27-year-old was rushed to hospital with serious injuries as police scramble to hunt down his attackers. 

Daily Mail Australia understands Koloamatangi and another person were sitting in a white car about 9.20pm when occupants of another vehicle approached and opened fire. 

The situation is eerily similar to a previous attempt on his life in 2020 when he was reportedly sitting in a Toyota Camry with school friend Hasan Gotkas and two men opened fire, injuring Gotkas.

Gotkas had also survived a previous shooting in 2012. He was hit in the stomach in a shooting detectives believe was linked to a feud between members of his family and that of Bassam Hamzy – the founder of notorious gang Brothers 4 Life.

It is not suggested Gotkas was involved in the recent shooting. 

Photos of the grisly scene on Wednesday show how blood sprayed across the ground and walls as Koloamatangi was confronted by the gunman in front of a fire exit in the second floor of the three-level carpark.

Two footprints were impressed into pools of blood amid the commotion while droplets were smattered across nearby cars. 

During the attack, the white car Koloamatangi was travelling in appeared to try to escape – driving up one level before losing control and crashing into a metal barrier. 

The collision left debris littered around the carpark as well as a massive puddle of accelerator fluid. 

On the ground, where the driver’s side came to a halt after hitting the barricade, were several large fresh red droplets.  

Two shots are believed to have struck Koloamatangi in the head while two others hit his chest.

The injured 27-year-old was seen clinging to life as he was stretchered into an ambulance by paramedics and other emergency responders. He was rushed to St George Hospital with a police escort. 

A second person in the vehicle that was shot at is believed to have fled the scene.

The car was towed from the complex on Wednesday to be forensically examined by police.

Officers also blocked several entrances to the underground car parks covered in blood stains.

A woman who knows Koloamatangi’s family said she was ‘shocked’ by the news.

‘His father and mother are very nice. Very peaceful people,’ she said. 

‘Their son [Kolomantangi] kept to himself, but was always friendly when I would see him.’ 

Horrified witnesses recalled hearing loud bangs ringing out in the underground carpark where the man was shot.

A man who lives in the apartment block said he heard several ‘pops’ and felt the building shaking.

‘I looked out the window and the firefighters, cops, and heaps of paramedics had arrived,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘One cop was carrying a box. I think it was blood. The guy was getting a blood transfusion in the carpark.

‘He was in a pretty bad way.’

The man said police appeared to be searching for something as officers sent a drone over the scene.

He said it was pretty shocking to have such a violent incident unfold on his doorstep.

‘I was about to go down into the basement carpark around that time to get my bike. You think about what could have happened.

‘You just don’t expect something like this.’

He added he later saw two women being ushered away at the scene to be interviewed by detectives.

Another resident said that she heard loud bangs from her ground floor unit, which is right next to the basement.

‘There were loud bangs. At first I didn’t think they were gunshots,’ she said.

‘I looked outside and saw two women distressed and realised something was happening so I called 000.’

The woman said she struggled to sleep after the horrifying attack.

‘It was pretty shocking and terrifying,’ she added.

Forensics officers arrived at the unit complex on Wednesday morning to investigate the crime scene.

Detectives have set up Strike Force Faux to investigate the shooting. 

Other residents said they didn’t hear any shots fired and were unaware of what happened until they saw at least 10 emergency service vehicles in their street.

Rashmi Khardka is concerned for the safety of her daughter living in the suburb.

‘This area needs a lot more surveillance,’ she told the Daily Telegraph.

‘It’s definitely very scary. It gets very dark at night.’

Underworld sources told the publication they believed the incident was connected to other recent shootings.

Firefighters were called to the scene of three burnt out cars in the nearby suburbs of Birrong, Berala and Kingsgrove. They extinguished the flames however the cars were destroyed.

A second crime scene has established in Kilkee Avenue, Kingsgrove where a Mercedes sedan crashed into a house and caught on fire shortly after the Campsie shooting. 

The tactic of lighting getaway cars on fire has become a common trait of Sydney hitmen in recent years.

Investigations are underway to determine if there is a link between the shooting and the destroyed cars.

Since mid 2020, there have been at least 25 underworld shootings on Sydney’s streets. 

On July 27 a man, 28, was gunned down on Broughton Street in Canterbury at about 2am.

A shocking photo emerged showing horrified schoolkids confronted with the scene of Ferenc Stemler’s bloodied body hours after he was shot dead.

Several primary-school aged children were seen walking past the cordoned off crime scene.

A burnt-out white Holden Commodore was found on Beaconsfield Avenue in nearby Kingsgrove shortly after the ‘targeted’ shooting. 

That shooting came just hours after leading criminal defence lawyer Mahmoud Abbas was shot in his driveway in Greenacre.

Mr Abbas was shot in the right leg and stomach before being rushed to hospital to undergo emergency surgery. He is now recovering.

That shooting occurred on the same street where underworld figure Mahmoud ‘Brownie’ Ahmad was shot dead while visiting an associate in April 2022.

The spate of shootings prompted NSW Police to establish a taskforce to investigate the outbreak of violence.

Led by State Crime Command, Taskforce Magnus will examine the links between shootings dating back to when Alen Moradian was gunned down in a Bondi Junction carpark in Sydney’s east on June 27.

‘Public place shootings are reckless – and criminals carrying out such attacks show a blatant disregard for, not only their own safety, but that of the community,’ NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.

‘Taskforce Magnus will provide investigating officers a full suite of capabilities and an arsenal of resources to not only find those responsible, but to end this brazen violence on our streets.’

‘Organised criminals have proven time and time again they operate within a cone of silence – unwilling to assist police due to fear of retribution or misguided loyalties.

THE MONTH OF SHOOTINGS IN SYDNEY THAT LED TO NEW TASKFORCE

Three young people sitting in two separate cars were shot in Greenacre on July 22, in a gangland shooting.

Ahmad Al-Azzam, 25, was shot multiple times including in the head while sitting in his silver Toyota on Mayvic Street at 2.15am and later died from his injuries.

Kaashif Richards, 22, and Achiraya Jantharat, 19, who were in a separate car 50 metres away, were also shot and rushed to hospital.

Because of the high number of bullets focused on Mr Al-Azzam’s car, investigators suspect Mr Al-Azzam was the hitman’s target.

But the motive remains a mystery as none of the three victims had criminal records or any known links to organised crime gangs.

On July 7, a gunman in a balaclava shot brothers William, 33, and Eric Siale, 20, at Abdel’s Salon on Marrickville Road. Both survived the attack.

On June 27, cocaine kingpin Moradian, 48, was gunned down during a brazen daylight ambush in an underground car park at Bondi Junction. Police said he had a target on his back.

For ten months the crime boss lived in constant fear of assassins he rightly believed were trying to locate him.