A 19-year-old has been charged with coordinating the attempted shooting of a man and his teenage daughter at school pick-up in Sydney’s west.
NSW Police were called to a school in Fairfield about 3pm on June 9 after a handgun was pointed at a 44-year-old man and the 15-year-old girl inside a ute.
The man and girl managed to get out of the car and runaway from the gunman, who was dressed in black and wearing a balaclava.
Taskforce Falcon Commander Detective Acting Superintendent Jason Smith said the gunman then pursued the teenage girl on foot.
“He chased her, attempted to fire the pistol, and again, that pistol failed to fire,” he said.
Acting Superintendent Smith said the pursuit of the girl was “absolutely abhorrent”.
“I can’t think of anything worse in terms of depravity of a criminal to do that to a young woman and to put her through that,” he said.
Detectives believed the man who was targeted was being tracked for several days before the hit man’s failed attempt due to links to Sydney’s Alameddine crime family.
“I don’t believe [the man] thought his life was in danger to this extent,” Acting Superintendent Smith said.
“Understandably, I’m not sure how you would ever get over something like this. They are understandably they are still affected by this incident, particularly the young girl.”
Police said they were investigating whether the gun had jammed, preventing shots from being fired. (ABC News: Victoria Pengilley)
Police have previously said it was unable to confirm whether the gun had jammed, preventing shots from being fired.
The attempted shooting caused the NSW Department of Education to heighten security at the nearby school.
Man facing string of charges
Strike force detectives with assistance from Raptor Squad officers, which target organised crime, arrested 19-year-old David Kulitapa during a vehicle stop in Sans Souci on Wednesday afternoon.
At the same time police executed a search warrant in Cronulla to seize a knife, illicit drugs and devices.
He was charged with a string of offences, including two counts of attempt to discharge loaded arms at a person with intent to murder, installing a tracking device to find an object without consent and knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group.
Police will allege Mr Kulitapa orchestrated the attempted murder of the man and girl.
“Importantly, we are not alleging that he was the gunman, we are alleging that he was involved in facilitating the crime,” Acting Superintendent Smith told reporters on Thursday.
“We are alleging that he played an overall coordination role for this shooting.”
Police are still on the hunt for the alleged gunman.
Police alleged in court documents that Mr Kulitapa installed a tracking device on the 44-year-old’s ute a week prior, in the early hours of June 2.
Acting Superintendent Smith spoke of the charges on Thursday. (ABC News)
Acting Superintendent Smith said detectives would investigate whether Mr Kulitapa was hired by someone offshore.
“Throughout Taskforce Falcon, we certainly have seen a trend or increase in the use of young people used to commit these offences, not just the shootings, but the acts of preparation. I think the reason for that is that they’re cheap and they’re expendable.”
Mr Kulitapa’s matter was heard in Sutherland Local Court on Thursday, where no application for bail was made and it was formally refused.
Acting Superintendent Smith said Mr Kulitapa was known to police for unrelated offences.
“This was an extremely targeted and calculated attack that occurred in a busy street, minutes before school pick-up,” he said.
“This [alleged] offender showed a complete disregard for the victims and anyone in the vicinity at the time.”