A young boy screamed for help after witnessing his dad get shot nearly a dozen times while they were sat in a car together outside a gym.
Taha Sabbagh, 40, pulled into the car park of martial arts gym Elite Fight Force in Sefton, 13 miles west of central Sydney, Australia, just after 6.30am on Thursday to drop off his 12-year-old son for a training session.
As he sat in the driver's seat of his black Mercedes he was reportedly hit by around 10 bullets.
Mr Sabbagh was treated by paramedics but he couldn’t be saved.
His son was uninjured but had been “traumatised” by witnessing his father’s violent death, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said.
"All I heard was a young guy screaming: 'Help me, help me, my dad's been shot," a witness said.
Detective Doherty said the shooting is believed to be targeted, but officers were still trying to determine if he was the target.
"It's horrendous to think a 12-year-old had to witness his father being shot dead in this manner," he continued, "It's a sickening feeling. [the offenders are ]callous, brazen and have little disregard for human life."
Detective Doherty said they believe at least two people were involved and that they used a Mazda 3 as a getaway car. A burnt-out car was later found less than a mile away.
He continued: "He [Mr Sabbagh] was not well known to police. He was associated with some people who are well-known to police and have strong criminal activity connected to them."
Mr Sabbagh was a driver for luxury chauffeur services around Sydney and he often shared photos of him with celebrities, including Russian social media star Hasbulla and WWE wrestler Logan Paul.
Doherty said police are “throwing resources” at the murder investigation and is “desperately seeking anyone” who may have dash cam footage, CCTV, or other information about the victim or that may help identify his killers.
In a statement posted to Instagram, Elite Fight Force said it would be closed for the day.
"We are very sorry for any inconvenience, Elite Fight Force will be closed today and all classes will be cancelled for the day," the gym posted to its Instagram stories.
"Please bear with us and stay updated with our stories for any new announcements."
The detective does not believe the murder was related to the spate of gangland murders in the last 18 months, which resulted in at least 15 shooting deaths.
The last one was six months ago when two women were killed in a drive-by shooting in Revesby, around 13 miles from central Sydney.
