EXCLUSIVE: 'It's going to get very ugly': Execution of crime boss Bassam Hamzy's brother by two gunmen is set to spark a war on the streets - as the slain man's links to other underworld killings are revealed
Mejid Hamzy, the brother of infamous gangster Bassam Hamzy has been shot dead in Sydney's south-west
The family of notorious Sydney gangster Bassam Hamzy fear there may be more bloodshed on the streets after the crime boss's older brother was gunned down in a drive-by shooting.
Mejid Hamzy was killed in a suspected drive-by shooting on Simmat Avenue at Condell Park, in south-west Sydney, about 7.30am on Monday.
Witnesses said the 44-year-old was shot outside his home before staggering to a friend's house in a nearby street, where he collapsed.
NSW Police say they believe two killers were lying in wait outside Mejid's home from early on Monday.
When he walked outside he was gunned down, before the gunmen fled.
Mejid's cousin feared there would be swift and bloody retaliation from the slain gangster's associates.
'I just hope there's no retaliation. It's going to get very ugly, I'll tell you that,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
The cousin said Mejid had little if anything to do with his younger brother Bassam.
A burnt out car could be seen parked on the suburban street with debris and shattered glass strewn on the street
'Their father just passed away recently. We're all in shock. I feel sorry for his kids, man,' he said.
Mejid's cousin said the dead man lived in a grey duplex with his wife and young children.
He also cared for the four adult orphans of an uncle and aunt who had died some years earlier.
Mejid owned the property and kept a low profile, sometimes training at a park near his home.
The other half of the duplex was being rented by underworld figure Safwan Charbaji when he was shot dead in a gunfight outside a Condell Park smash repair business in April 2016.
Charbaji was killed by crime boss Walid 'Wally' Ahmad who in turn was shot dead at Bankstown Central shopping centre three weeks later.
Ahmad, who ran the smash repair business where Charbaji was killed, lived in Townsend Street, near where Mejid was shot dead.
The cousin said Mejid had been shot outside his home and had run around the corner into Curtin Place where he died in front of a friend's house.
'I heard something, I thought it was fireworks man,' he said of Monday morning's gunfire.
'When I heard the chopper I just came here straight away.'
NSW Police Homicide Squad detectives are now leading the investigation and are hunting two gunmen over the killing (Pictured are detectives and forensic police at the scene on Monday)
Other underworld sources told Daily Mail Australia that despite the attention given to his younger brother, Mejid was also 'well connected' in the crime world.
'Whoever pulled this stunt is a madman for sure. He is one of the biggest names in Sydney,' they said.
'Mejid is the one who made that family who they are today. Bassam is big but Mejid is a different breed.
'This guy was well connected and loved by heaps of heavies. His crew won't take this lightly.'
A major manhunt is underway for two gunmen who police believe are responsible for the early morning murder of Mejid Hamzy
Police and forensic officers are pictured at the scene on Monday. Underworld sources have told Daily Mail Australia Mejid was also 'well connected' in the crime world
Police officers at the scene on Monday. Mejid's death comes just months after his father Khaled died after a long battle with illness
NSW Police canvas the neighbourhood after Mejid Hamzy was gunned down early on Monday morning
Bankstown Police Acting Superintendent Darren Sly told reporters they were concerned about retaliation from Mejid's associates.
'Police are always worried in circumstances like this where we have a public shooting, that there could be repercussions but certainly police will make all their efforts to try and stop it if we can,' he said.
'It would appear that those two males... have been waiting for the male to leave his house this morning, so certainly we would say at this early stage that it was a targeted shooting.'
Mejid used to live nextdoor to underworld figure Safwan Charbaji who was shot dead by fellow crime identity Wally Ahmad after a gunfight in Condell Park in 2016
A burnt out car with shattered windows was found streets away from the body and NSW Police Homicide Squad detectives are now leading the investigation.
Bassam is serving 40 years in jail for a string of offences inside Goulburn Supermax, Australia's highest security prison.
Mejid may have been popular and powerful on the street after Bassam's incarceration, but the pair were not always friendly.
Phone intercepts from when Bassam was on the run in Lebanon from murder charges reveal sibling rivalry was alive and well.
In 1998, Bassam called his mother Lola in Sydney and told her how badly he wanted his brother dead because he was using his car while he was in hiding.
'First Nidal, then Khoder, then Mejid. Okay. These two, I'll kill them,' he said.
Lola pleaded with him to calm down as the family had enough 'catastrophes' and didn't need more of them - especially three additional bodies.
'I want catastrophes. I like catastrophes. You know, once I have killed these three if I then go to prison I would be happy,' Bassam replied.
'My life will then have been completed because these three are my life.'
Emergency services rushed to Simmat Avenue, in Condell Park, after a man was shot about 7.30am Monday
A woman in a head scarf wiped back tears as emergency services swarmed the crime scene
Bassam seemed angry that Mejid was using his car to go to work and went so far as to wishing he could launch a missile on him from Lebanon.
'Aah, he's happy f**king around in it while I'm losing money. He's happy,' he said.
'I hope he'll die while in his work. I hope a projectile can be launched from here and hit him on the head there.'
Lola pleaded with him to not talk about his brother that way and asked him why he was so violently angry.
'Hell, he's not my brother, he isn't. I have two little brothers and that's it and Nathan and Ghassan are my brothers,' he said.
'I told him, next week, when he rang me I told him to take the car to uncle Mohamed. The f**kwit said yes, and when Ghassen came to take it he told him no, you can't have it. Who does he think he is, the hole in my prick? I'm going to kill him.'
Bassam had such little respect for Mejid over the car that he figured his brother took his guns too: 'Where's all my pistols? He's sold them hasn't he?'
A group of men gathered in the suburban street as a woman spoke to someone over the phone
Police taped off a crime scene along Simmat Avenue and Curtin Place from early on Monday
After a screaming match with his mother over other issues related to his other brother Hammoud, he finished the call again vowing death to Mejid.
'You don't worry about me, I can survive even on Mars. Nobody can say anything to me and nobody can lay a hand on me. I'm going to kill Mejid, to kill Nidal and to kill Khoder,' he said.
A large number of friends and family flocked to the scene on Monday morning as the news began to spread, with a woman in a head scarf pictured wiping away tears.
One local told Daily Mail Australia she awoke to the sound of gun fire.
'I heard about five gun shots at about 7.30 then about 15 minutes later heaps of sirens,' she said.
'There were riot trucks driving up and down the street and a police helicopter.'
The mother said shootings are common in the area and her family hears gun shots 'every couple of months'.
She said she was not surprised by the sound and has kept her frightened children home from school for the day.
Mejid's death comes just months after his father Khaled died after a long battle with illness.
Police taped off the area and spoke to witnesses at the crime scene in Sydney's south-west
Khaled had himself done jail time in the 1990s for his involvement in a Sydney drug ring, but lived a quieter life in his later years.
He told Daily Mail Australia in 2018 of the difficulties his family had endured in their attempts to see their most notorious member Bassam during his years behind bars.
'I haven't seen him for nearly 12 or 13 years,' Mr Hamzy said in 2018, just moments after he saw his son on a TV screen inside Downing Centre District Court.
'The family's the same, they are always knocked . They put in a request and it's rejected... it's really unjust, we are meant to be a democratic country.
'His niece told him she wanted to come and visit him, but he said: 'Look they are going to put me on box visits, it's hard for me to see you or hug you or kiss you'.'
Bassam still holds major influence in the activities of criminal networks a court heard earlier this year, including over killings, debt collections and extortion.
Details of Hamzy's reach were exposed in the trial of Abdul Abu-Mahmoud, who admitted to orchestrating the killing of 15-year-old Brayden Dillon who was allegedly shot as revenge for the murder of Hamzy's nephew.
Evidence was given in the trial by an underworld figure known as Witness F who said he was offered a contract to kill the 15-year-old by Hamzy through an intermediary.
He told the court he rejected the request but was offered other tasks - one of which was to collect debts on behalf of the imprisoned crime kingpin.
A crime scene has been set up and a homicide investigation has been launched
Riot teams swarmed the area, with Simmat Avenue and Curtin Place closed in both direction
Despite him being dubbed one of Australia's worst inmates, Mr Hamzy defended his son's long record of bad behaviour since being jailed.
He claimed that his son is regularly targeted in prison and understandably reacts like any 'lion' would when threatened.
'He has nothing now, so of course he is always going to react and he's been in jail for a long time so it changes you I am sure,' Mr Hamzy said.
'But they try to make him out to be like a monster. They are always pushing him into a corner and if you push a lion into a corner they will attack you.'
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000.