‘Innocent’ student shot dead in Sydney home invasion, police investigate possible case of mistaken identity

A university student was shot dead inside his family home during an early morning home invasion that police are investigating as a possible case of mistaken identity.

Marco Tapia, 23, died from multiple gunshot wounds after a group of home invaders stormed the two-storey Glen Alpine property in Sydney’s south-west about 3:40am on Tuesday and opened fire. Several of Tapia’s family members were inside the home at the time of the attack, but were not injured.

Detectives believe the attack was targeted, but are investigating whether Tapia’s killing was a case of mistaken identity. Tapia has no known links to organised crime and is known to police only through minor traffic offending.

Tapia was in the third year of a biomedical engineering degree at the University of Technology Sydney, according to his LinkedIn profile. He volunteered with the university chapter of non-profit Engineers Without Borders as a youth outreach officer, according to the profile.

Several of Tapia’s relatives told this masthead that he was bright, studious and deeply religious.“He was innocent,” said a family member who asked not to be identified.

Tapia and several peers were in June recognised at the university’s Tech Fest, a showcase of engineering students’ work.

Relatives said Tapia, who was expected to complete his studies next year, was a genius and had dreamt of a long career in medical engineering.

“He didn’t deserve this,” one said.

A search is under way to locate the home invaders, who fled the Mount Sugarloaf Drive property before emergency services arrived on Tuesday morning. No arrests have been made.

Police are investigating whether the shooting is linked to ongoing conflicts involving the Alameddine crime family and rival groups, including the self-proclaimed Coconut Cartel.

One of the cartel’s alleged leaders, Iziah Utai, on Tuesday morning posted an apparent reference on social media to a botched shooting.

Utai, who is wanted by NSW Police over the alleged murder of underworld figure Dawood Zakaria last May, has been regularly taunting the Alameddines on social media. He is believed to have travelled to south-east Asia and parts of Europe and the Middle East since leaving Australia after Zakaria’s death.

In recent months, Utai has posted several images to social media of himself purportedly taken in Vlore, a coastal Albanian city.

Detective Acting Superintendent Gretchen Atkins said police were aware of Utai’s post and investigating any possible links to ongoing gangland conflicts.

“We don’t know a lot at the moment, but everything is being considered,” Atkins said.

The shooting comes three days after Emad Alameddine, a relative of the notorious crime family, was shot inside his Guildford home during a home invasion.

The 28-year-old is related to members of the Alameddine organised crime network but not involved in the group’s criminal activities. He was rushed to hospital after the shooting in a critical condition. A group of masked men fled in a white SUV shortly after he was shot.