A man has been shot dead in Sydney's southwest in a brazen attack on a busy street after a confrontation with two men.
It's the fifth targeted shooting in the area this week and has fanned fears the city's gang wars are escalating.
The unidentified man was gunned down on Broughton Street, Canterbury, about 2am on Thursday, in a scenario with all the hallmarks of an underworld hit.
NSW Police officers found the man in his 20s with multiple gunshot wounds. He was treated by paramedics, but died at the scene.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Dave Hudson says the string of tit-for-tat shootings are linked to organised crime networks that are feuding over Sydney's lucrative illicit drug trade.
The latest street execution unfolded after two men had a verbal stoush with the victim.
"We believe two people engaged in conversation with the victim shortly prior to the shooting," Mr Hudson told Sydney radio station 2GB.
Police have since found two burnt-out vehicles they believe were used as getaway cars by the gunmen.
"Police are doing all we can to prevent these shootings ... but the ongoing nature of these incidents is of obvious concern," Mr Hudson said.
"It's escalated over the last several years. Sydney's unfortunately one of the highest consumers of cocaine and methamphetamine in the world."
Most of the shootings were linked to Sydney's criminal drug distribution, with many of the hits outsourced to lower-level criminal groups.
The latest happened just hours after high-profile criminal lawyer Mahmoud Abbas was gunned down in Greenacre on Wednesday morning.
Mr Abbas, 31, has undergone emergency surgery after a gunman confronted him outside his Greenacre home.
On Sunday, three people were shot at Greenacre, leaving one 25-year-old man critically injured and a 22-year-old man and 19-year-old woman injured.
Sydney's southwestern suburbs are grappling with a gang-linked war involving a number of families. It has claimed at least 11 lives in recent years and has flared up again in the past few months.
Mr Abbas has represented several high-profile clients, including members of an alleged ISIS-inspired terror cell charged with plotting to destroy Sydney landmarks, and controversial former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer.
In 2021, he appeared for former NRL player Jamil Hopoate on drug charges.
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