A former UFC fighter was shot dead while on an early evening walk in Sydney’s north-west on Wednesday, in a “brazen” and “targeted” daylight attack that came six months after the man survived a previous alleged assassination plot.
Suman Mokhtarian, 33, was shot at the intersection of two residential streets in Riverstone, north of The Ponds, about 6pm on Wednesday. Paramedics who raced to the scene were unable to revive the man who had been shot in the upper body.
Suman Mokhtarian was killed in Riverstone on Wednesday night.
Mokhtarian, who last fought in the UFC in 2019, was the alleged target of a gangland hit at a Sydney mixed martial arts event in April, which was cancelled amid fears for the man’s life.
Mokhtarian had previously survived an alleged attempted hit outside the Australian Top Team gym in Wentworthville last year, when a man allegedly posing as a food delivery driver opened fire.
On Wednesday, a car was seen speeding away from the scene of the Riverstone shooting. Shortly afterwards police received reports of a car fire in nearby Riverstone Road. Firefighters were also called to another car blaze at Mattias Street, Riverstone. Both vehicles were destroyed, and are police are investigating whether they are linked to the hit.
Superintendent Jason Joyce of Riverstone Police Area Command said police believe the shooting was a targeted attack and that the victim was thought to have been hit while going on a walk.
“It’s very brazen, and it’s a shame that this is happening in our community. You’d want to think that in a residential area that people could wander the streets at that time of night and be safe, but we do believe it’s a targeted attack,” Joyce said.
“My heart goes out to the family of this victim, and certainly any of the people that witnessed it, [it] would have been a horrific thing to witness, and it’s certainly not something we tolerate in the community.”
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