A well-known boxing coach has been shot dead while leaving a gym in a suspected gangland attack – the third fatal shooting in Sydney in just over a week.
Louis Meehan, 32, the son of Fijian professional boxer Kali Meehan, was shot after a gunman called out his name as he was walking through the carpark of the Punchbowl Community Centre in the city’s south-west just before 6pm on Wednesday.
Horrified school children witnessed the killing, and paramedics treated Mr Meehan at the scene for multiple gunshot wounds, but he could not be saved, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Mr Meehan’s Instagram account shows him wearing clothing labels linked to the Alameddine Middle Eastern organised crime network, which is embroiled in an underworld war with Pacific Islander gang the Coconut Cartel.
Two innocent men were killed and another wounded last week in three mistaken identity shootings believed to be linked to the conflict, but police on Wednesday would not say whether Mr Meehan had links to organised crime, although they confirmed he was known to them.
Acting Superintendent Dean Johnstone called the attack a “callous act” that could have harmed bystanders, 9News reported.
“We believe this was a targeted attack, but we do not believe that other persons were at risk,” he said.
“However, obviously in a public place like this, those actions cannot be tolerated as it potentially endangered innocent members of the community.
“It is very early days in our investigation, but I can guarantee that NSW Police Force will investigate this matter thoroughly. We will identify the offenders and we will put them before the court.”
He said police were looking for a silver Lexus sedan that was driven away from the scene after the shooting, and asked for anyone in the area at the time to review their dashcam footage.
Last week university student Marco Tapia, 23, and electrician Joshua Macdonald, 40, neither of whom were known to police or had links to organised crime, were shot dead in western Sydney.
Days before that, a relative of a senior member of the Alameddine gang, Emad Alameddine, was shot in the back when masked men broke into his Guildford home. He had recently been released from jail, but was not involved in the crime syndicate that bears his surname.
Mr Tapia is believed to have been shot dead in Glen Alpine in a botched reprisal for that shooting, and Mr Macdonald was killed while visiting a friend at a home in Merrylands which is owned by a man named Moshtaba Hafizi, who has links to the Alameddine family.
Header image: Left, Louis Meehan (Instagram). Right, police and paramedics at the scene (9News).
