‘He didn’t deserve this’: University student shot dead, latest victim of mistaken identity

Growing up, Marco Tapia was the perfect child. His family said they could not fault him as he grew into a studious and selfless young man who volunteered, worked hard and was devoted to his faith.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the 23-year-old was shot dead in his bed in what appears to be Sydney’s latest mistaken identity killing.

Tapia was in his third year of a biomedical engineering degree at the University of Technology Sydney. One family member described him as a genius. In June, he was celebrated with an award for his work on volumetric muscle loss by the university, where Tapia also volunteered with Engineers Without Borders.

Born Ready MMA, a mixed martial arts team that Tapia trained and fought with in Campbelltown, paid tribute to the Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor on social media.

“We lost a real one today,” the team said in an Instagram post. “Rest easy, Marco. One of us forever.”

While he was feted by academia and passionate about martial arts, Tapia was not a name known to police familiar with Sydney’s criminal underworld. He was what gangland police call a “cleanskin”. His only known brush with the law came in the form of a minor traffic offence.

Why Tapia was shot dead in bed inside his family’s home on Tuesday morning is the question at the centre of what appears to be another case of mistaken identity that has alarmed senior NSW police.

“He was innocent,” said a family member who asked not to be identified.

Police and Tapia’s loved ones on Tuesday afternoon remained without answers as officers searched for a group of home invaders who fled his family’s Glen Alpine home moments after executing him about 3:40am.

“He didn’t deserve this,” another relative said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said the shooting was “violent and disgusting”, recognising growing community alarm about three high-profile attacks on innocent members of the public in their own homes in the past two years.

“I hope these bastards are caught as soon as possible,” he said in New Delhi. “I know that NSW police will put enormous resources into tracking down the people who are responsible for this violent bastard act on the streets of Sydney.”

Detectives say it is too early to establish a possible motive for Tapia’s killing. It bears the hallmarks of the underworld attacks that have plagued Sydney during a series of gangland conflicts between organised crime groups vying for control of the city’s lucrative illicit drug trade.

On Saturday night, Emad Alameddine, a relative of the notorious Alameddine crime family, was critically injured during a shooting inside his western Sydney home. Police believe the 28-year-old, who is not believed to be involved in his relatives’ alleged criminal activities, was targeted because he shares a surname with the notorious family.

Detectives are investigating if the incident is linked to Tapia’s killing, or an ongoing conflict between the Alameddine family and rival criminal groups, including the self-proclaimed Coconut Cartel. The Coconut Cartel comprises former members and associates of the Merrylands brood’s once-sprawling network.

Hours after Tuesday’s shooting, one of the cartel’s alleged leaders, Iziah Utai, posted an apparent reference to a botched shooting on social media alongside the Sydney rapper Ay Huncho, an alleged senior member of the Alameddine organised crime network and former ally of Utai.

“Popped the wrong person,” the post read. “Didn’t even get the right house.”

Investigators on Tuesday were scouring social media for any links between Tapia and members of Sydney’s underworld and were aware of Utai’s post, which appeared to have been deleted soon after it was uploaded.

“We don’t know a lot at the moment, but everything is being considered,” Detective Acting

Superintendent Gretchen Atkins said on Tuesday morning.

“I’m not going to go into all aspects of the investigation at this point in time. A young man has lost his life today, and that’s, obviously, just tragic.”

Utai, who is wanted by NSW Police over the alleged murder of underworld figure Dawood Zakaria last May, has regularly taunted the Alameddine family in social media posts, including a video showing him shooting a high-powered firearm at senior members depicted as targets at a shooting range. One of the targets was Ay Huncho, whose legal name is Ali Younes.

A series of mistaken identity attacks in the past two years, including the alleged kidnapping and murder of Sydney grandfather Chris Baghsarian in February, has alarmed senior police, who say criminals are younger and more amateurish and brazen than ever.

Tapia’s killing drew comparisons to the brazen assassination of 23-year-old plumber John Versace, who was gunned down outside his family’s Condell Park home days before Zakaria’s death in a mistaken identity shooting.

Versace, like Tapia, had no criminal history or known links to organised crime. He, too, was known to police only through a minor traffic offence.

Investigations under Strike Force Gareno, established to probe Tapia’s killing, are ongoing as specialist forensics officers comb his family’s home for evidence. Officers are also examining an abandoned car found on Rose Payton Drive at Minto, near Campbelltown, that is believed to be linked to the shooting.

Anyone with information about Tuesday’s shooting is urged to contact police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

“Any small piece of information is what we may [need to] get the break that we’re actually looking for,” Atkins said.

With Michael McGowan

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