Man killed in Revesby drive-by
Authorities question a man who turns up at the victims house of the Revesby drive-by shooting.
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Police are bracing for the possibility of tit-for-tat shootings after the cousin of Brothers for Life founder Bassam Hamzy was shot dead in Sydney's south-west.
Brothers for Life member Mahmoud Hamzy, 25, was fatally gunned down in a Revesby Heights garage just after 12.30am on Tuesday, police said. His friend, Omar Ajaj, 24, was in intensive care on Tuesday night after he was shot in the leg and stomach.
Homicide detectives were investigating the ''distinct possibility'' that the shooting was the result of an internal gang conflict but were also looking at whether it was motivated by a feud with rivals.
A police source said members of Brothers for Life, who comprise mostly Middle Eastern men living in south-west Sydney, were known to use guns to settle any dispute, from being upset about a post on social networking site Facebook to unpaid drug debts.
''Brothers for Life have a known history of shooting each other,'' the source said.
Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas said three offenders and at least two guns were used in the shooting on Bardo Circuit.
Mahmoud Hamzy: Shot dead at a home in Revesby Heights. Hamzy is a cousin of Bassam Hamzy and a member of Brothers For Life. Photo: Facebook
''We are certainly mindful that there possibly may be reprisals,'' Mr Kaldas said. ''I know the group is called Brothers for Life but there is also a feeling among some police that they are not real brothers for life. They're lucky to be brothers for today.''
A relative of Mahmoud Hamzy showed up at the crime scene on Tuesday in a car with number plates that read MEOC - the acronym for Middle Eastern Organised Crime - and likened the shooting to New Year's Eve fireworks.
''His cousin has been murdered and he feels it's a light matter,'' Mr Kaldas said.
Cousin of killed man: Notorious criminal Bassam Hamzy.
A family of four said they were forced to move out of the street just weeks ago, fearful of what was going on at the house and concerned about a heavy police presence after a reported shooting in July.
''My wife was extremely concerned,'' a member of the family said.
''They are pretty brazen. They used to drive in and out of the street in their Audi and Maserati.''
Mr Kaldas said, despite Tuesday's fatal incident, drive-by shootings had more than halved in the past two months.
He said detectives had nothing to suggest at this stage that the shooting was linked to the fatal shooting of another Brothers for Life member in Greenacre in October last year.
Police also did not believe it was linked in anyway to Bassam Hamzy, who was now in Goulburn's Supermax jail, and said that, while he might have founded the group, he had little to no control over the gang now.
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