Man, 25, charged with murder after father-of-two shot dead in western Sydney
A 25-year-old man has been charged with murder after a father-of-two was killed in a brazen daylight shooting in Sydney’s west on Friday.
Mal Seve was shot in the chest, neck and legs in Blacktown on Friday morning.
Paramedics treated the 28-year-old, who was understood to be a member of the Inner West Brotherhood gang, but he died at the scene in Carinya Street.
The two men were arrested following a short police pursuit that ended with their Mazda ute crashing into the nearby Kildare Road.
The 25-year-old man, who was taken to hospital with minor injuries, was charged with murder, using an offensive weapon to prevent lawful custody, carrying it in a vehicle without the owner’s consent, obstructing or resisting a police officer in the execution of his duty, and breaching bail, after he was released.
He is due to appear at Blacktown Local Court on Monday.
Hoani Tewhare, 18, was charged with murder, taking and driving without consent and failing to stop during a police pursuit.
Mr Tewhare did not apply for bail as he made his first court appearance on Saturday.
He emerged from prison via video link and was told he would appear in court next January.
Mr Seve reportedly ran to a neighbour’s house for help and they called Triple-0.
Inspector Brendan Gorman said on Friday that no one else was injured in the incident.
“It’s still early days and it’s a complex investigation involving multiple crime scenes,” he said.
“The police did a great job, arriving on scene within seconds… Police heard shots fired and responded immediately.”
Commissioner Gorman said it was not yet known whether the attack was linked to gang violence, but both the suspects and Mr Seve were known to police.
A shopkeeper working nearby heard sirens and saw someone jump the fence before “a police officer caught him”.
“The police took him down and arrested him,” Ousama Hawat told The Daily Telegraph.
One witness, Mohammed Hamdan, told Nine Newspapers he was from Gaza and heard five shots fired when he was 50 meters away and immediately recognized the sound.
“I’ve heard this sound before, but this is the first time I’ve encountered something like this in Australia,” he said.
“The last time I heard anything like this, it was a war zone.
“The sound was very loud. I saw police cars near the entrance and someone running and jumping over the fence.”
