Arabic version: ضحايا أبرياء عالقون في عنف العصابات في سيدني
According to ABC News, innocent people are increasingly being killed, targeted by mistake or attacked because of family connections in Sydney’s sprawling gang war. Authorities say eight people have been killed in mistaken-identity cases since 2021. Including people allegedly targeted as relatives of gang members or innocent bystanders, the figure rises to 14.
In September 2026, Central Coast tradie Joshua Macdonald was shot dead in the front yard of a Merrylands West home after parking his work van in the driveway. Police believe the intended target was associated with the property and allegedly had links to the Alameddine crime network, but did not live there. That month, biomedical engineering student Marco Tapia, 23, was shot dead in bed after masked intruders entered his Glen Alpine family home. Police believe violence between the self-proclaimed Coconut Cartel and rival Alameddines is fuelling the attacks.
Other alleged mistaken-identity victims include 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian, who police say was kidnapped from his North Ryde home in February 2026 and whose remains were found after an 11-day search. Police believe a relative of businessman Dimitri Stepanyan was the intended target. University student Luke Manassa, 21, was fatally stabbed in June 2025 in an attack police alleged was carried out by masked men with machetes under a contract intended for somebody else.
John Versace, a 23-year-old tradie, was killed outside his Condell Park home in May 2025 after hitmen targeted the wrong address. Kim Duncan, 65, died after being shot during a drive-by at her son’s Ambarvale home in April 2025. Police said she had been caught in the crossfire of a dispute involving a person who lived there. In 2024, Bol Deng, 20, was killed outside his Fairfield Heights home in what police alleged was retaliation connected to accusations against his brother.
Taskforce Falcon head Superintendent Jason Box said the specialist unit was created to target organised-crime gang violence and public shootings in Sydney. He said police had made 800 arrests involving people associated with criminal activity and organised-crime networks, and described a high percentage as juveniles drawn in by contracts offered by gangland figures overseas.
