A gunman opened fire on a function centre in Sydney’s south-west on Tuesday night, targeting the venue where the wake for slain underworld figure Lorenzo Lemalu was supposed to be held. No one was inside the Diamond Venues Club in Punchbowl when the shots were fired.
The timing matters because Lemalu’s body had only just been flown back to Australia after he was killed in Vietnam two weeks ago. Friends and family were meant to gather there, but the plans were shifted at the last minute before the shooting began.
Minutes after the gunfire, the gunman’s allegedly stolen SUV was found burnt out nearby on Gillian Place. The location and the speed of the getaway suggest the attack was organised for a narrow window, even though the venue had already been cleared.
The wake had been tied to a man whose death has kept pressure on Sydney’s underworld. Lemalu and his crew had been at war with the Alameddine crime family in recent months, a conflict marked by numerous shootings and fire bombings. Police only last week said they had smashed the cartel and locked up members, but the latest attack showed how quickly violence around the feud can spill into public spaces.
NSW Police assistant commissioner Scott Cook said officers had spent a long time trying to keep up with the conflict. “For a long time, we’ve been playing catch up,” he said. “For the first time we think we’re on par.”
There had already been a warning before the shots were fired. The owner of the venue told Lemalu’s family about 11pm yesterday that they were not welcome, fearing an incident would happen. That decision appears to have kept the wake from becoming the scene of a mass shooting, even if it did not stop the attempt.
Funeral plans have now been moved to Lakemba Mosque tomorrow, and police are aware of the arrangements and plan to be there. What remains unanswered is who pulled up to Punchbowl with a weapon and an allegedly stolen SUV, and whether the venue was chosen because of Lemalu himself or because of the wider feud around him.
