The woman injured when a man was fatally shot at a Bankstown shopping centre on Friday is not believed to be linked to those involved in the shooting, police have confirmed.
Police were called to the Bankstown Central Shopping Centre on Rickard Road just before midday on Friday and found three injured people — two men and a woman.
Today, investigators confirmed the woman, aged 32, was seated at a separate table from the two men, a 40-year-old, believed to be crime figure Walid “Wally” Ahmad and a 51-year-old man, who was previously reported to be aged 60.
It had been reported that the man was Mr Ahmad’s bodyguard, while the woman was a “female associate”, but police said this was incorrect.
A police statement said that “initial inquiries have led police to confirm the woman injured in the incident was an innocent bystander, and was sitting at a coffee table nearby when she was shot in the leg”.
“She is believed to not be linked in any way to those involved in the shooting,” the statement said.
The woman and the 51-year-old man were treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to Liverpool Hospital, where they remain in a stable condition.
Police are investigating whether Mr Ahmad was shot as payback for an earlier shooting in Condell Park.
A statement from NSW Police today said officers from State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad had taken over the investigation and established Strike Force Bindon as inquiries into the incident continued.
Officers are also investigating whether a car crash at Benalla, in north-eastern Victoria, is linked to the incident.
Police earlier said they had found a burnt out white Mercedes nearby in Greenacre, which they believed had been used in the shooting.
But officers said another getaway car had been dumped nearby, before the Mercedes was abandoned and set on fire and the car found crashed in Benalla may have been the third getaway car that the shooters used.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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Top Comments
Poor poor woman. I hope they catch the evil piece of dirt responsible soon. How dare these terrorists bring their battles to our peaceful way of life and onto our streets and harm innocent people.