A man is dead, two people have been injured and at least one gunman is on the loose after a targeted daylight attack at a western Sydney shopping centre.
A 40-year-old man, believed to be Sydney underworld figure and convicted killer Walid Ahmad, was killed in a spray of bullets on the rooftop car park of Bankstown Central shopping centre on Friday.
A 60-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman suffered gunshot wounds to their legs during the brazen attack.
Police will not say whether the three were known to each other but insist the dead man was clearly a target.
"This isn't a random shooting," Superintendent Dave Eardley told reporters.
Heavily armed officers swamped the scene and police helicopters hovered over the shopping centre went into virtual lockdown on Friday afternoon.
Ahmad was convicted in 2002 of manslaughter over the death of 39-year-old Mayez Dany following an earlier dispute.
Police are investigating links between Friday's shooting and a fatal gunfight outside Ahmad's smash repair business in nearby Condell Park earlier in April, which killed Safwan Charbaji and seriously injured another man.
Two men, including Charbaji's brother-in-law, have been charged with concealing a serious offence following the April 9 incident.
"We're certainly not ruling out any links - we're looking at all opportunities and avenues of investigation," Supt Eardley said.
"Those detectives will be reviewing the incident today to see if they can identify any linkages."
Police suspect Friday's shooter was not working alone.
"The indication is this gunman did not act alone - we have information of a white Mercedes being used," Supt Eardley said.
The vehicle was found burnt-out in nearby Greenacre.
A Bankstown resident working at the centre, who asked not to be named, told AAP "police arrested the wrong people to start with".
He said a Mercedes was stopped and searched by officers at the corner of Jacobs St and Rickard Rd, but police failed to find a weapon.
"It happened in front of us," he said.
"They handcuffed the wrong person."
Police would not comment on the incident.
Fatema Islam had just parked her car when the fatal gunshots rang out.
"I thought something fell from the fitness (centre) and I tried not to pay attention," Ms Islam told AAP.
"A lady came out from over there, screaming and crying, saying, 'Gunshots, gunshots'."
Ms Islam ran inside, watching as police cars swamped the scene.
"It's pretty scary, especially for local people like us. It's not a very fun place to be," she said.
Despite the shooting taking place in broad daylight outside a packed shopping centre, Supt Eardley insisted the public should not be afraid.
He said police would throw extra resources at trying to prevent any revenge attacks, urging associates of the dead man and wounded pair not to take drastic action.
"What I will say is this: don't take any actions into your own hands. Leave it to us to investigate. Leave it to us to identify the people involved," he said.
"We will put them before the courts. They will be dealt with under our law."
No arrests have yet been made.
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