A Sydney funeral shooting triggered a police manhunt on Sunday after a gunman fired shots at a venue set to host the funeral of underworld figure Lorenzo Lemalu, police and local media said.
Police told AFP no one suffered injuries in the attack. Officers later found an abandoned car linked to the shooting after someone set it alight.
Footage posted Saturday on a social media channel showed a man firing multiple shots from a car at the venue in Sydney’s west. Another person in the vehicle told him to aim at the windows.
Police were taking no chances today at the funeral of murdered Sydney crime boss Lorenzo Lemalu. The gang leader's casket was taken to Lakemba under full escort and officers kept close watch as he was laid to rest. pic.twitter.com/lZHN3FBTwL
— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) June 7, 2026The venue had been due to host the funeral of Lemalu, the purported leader of Sydney’s “Coconut Cartel.” Local media said mourners later held the funeral at a prominent Sydney mosque.
Lemalu was shot dead last month outside a seafood restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Vietnamese police arrested two Samoan nationals, who later admitted to the killing in a televised confession.
Sydney's brutal underworld war has sunk to a terrifying new low. Shots rang out as the family of a murdered crime boss prepared to bury him. The spray of bullets was recorded and posted on social media. pic.twitter.com/AnancYw5wK
— 7NEWS Queensland (@7NewsBrisbane) June 6, 2026The incident came as Sydney faces concern over organised crime violence. In February, police said Chris Baghsarian died after kidnappers targeted him by mistake.
Read: Australia: Three Killed in New South Wales Shooting, Man Critically Injured
Police said Baghsarian and his family had no underworld links. Instead, the kidnappers had sought a relative of a man linked to the west Sydney-based Alameddine crime network.
Australian criminologist Vince Hurley has warned that Sydney’s organised crime groups are becoming more reckless.
