Murder of innocent tradie catalyst in latest gangland crackdown
The execution of tradie John Versace in a suspected case of mistaken identity could come to haunt Sydney's underworld after senior police said it was a major catalyst in establishing a 150-officer taskforce to crush a simmering gang war spilling blood on the streets.
NSW Police on Tuesday announced Taskforce Falcon would draw together 100 detectives and 50 other police staff over 13 active investigations into gangland shootings, murders and abductions.
One on the list is Strikeforce Harkstede, the investigation into Versace's murder.
Forming the taskforce comes days of a brazen shooting on a busy road in Granville in the city's west, where alleged target Samimjan Azari, a senior figure in the notorious Alameddine crime clan, survived a second attempted assassination.
Versace was shot dead in the driveway of his parent's Condell Park home on May 19 by a masked gunman who had leapt from the rear seat of a silver Toyota Corolla and trapped him against his garage door.
The 23-year-old had no criminal history and no gang links. There seems to be nothing to explain why he would have been targeted by the professional hitmen, who burnt their getaway vehicle and the Glock pistol murder weapon.
'We have not identified a motive so far, and it appears to be mistaken identity, which is just tragic,' NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson told the Herald.
'We send our condolences to the Versace family … When it's someone innocent, it's doubly tragic.'
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