Crime boss Hamze, cousin of Brothers 4 Life founder, shot dead in Sydney CBD

A Sydney gangster who is related to the founder of Brothers 4 Life gang has been shot dead in the city’s CBD.

© Provided by The Guardian
Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

Bilal Hamze was shot on Bridge Street, near George Street, in the Sydney city on Thursday evening.

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Police said emergency services were called to the scene at 10.25pm after a man was “shot by an unknown person in a black vehicle”.

The man was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital where he died a short time later. On Friday, police formally identified him as 34-year-old Bilal Hamze.

Police also said they found “a burnt-out vehicle at Fleming Street, Northwood” a short time after the shooting, and a second crime scene was established there in addition to the CBD.

Detectives from the homicide squad have established strike force Englorie to investigate the shooting.

Bilal Hamze is the cousin of Bassam Hamzy, who founded the Brothers 4 Life gang and who is currently in Goulburn Supermax jail.

The ABC reported the gunman fled the scene of Thursday night’s shooting in a dark-coloured Audi.

A nearby witness, who was working in a convenience store, told the Daily Telegraph that he heard “five or six rounds” of shots being fired.

Other members of the Hamze family have previously been shot at in a series of gangland disputes. Bilal Hamze’s mother, Maha Hamze, was shot eight times in her leg in 2013 in Auburn. The brother of Bassam Hamzy, Mejid Hamzy, was shot dead in 2020 in Condell Park.