Hawi was hit with the barrage of bullets whilst sitting in his SUV and after he had finished a gym workout. CCTV footage, shown on Seven News, showed two men dressed in black running in a nearby street from the scene of a burning car. Police are investigating if that vehicle was connected with the shooting. Forensic officers scour Mick Hawi's SUV for clues following the shooting at Rockdale. Credit:Peter Rae Paramedics frantically worked to save Hawi's life after he suffered several heart attacks on the way to St George Hospital. He died within hours.

State Crime Commander Assistant Commissioner Mal Lanyon described the shooting as "a planned and targeted attack, completely without regard to human life". Addressing the media on Thursday afternoon, Mr Lanyon said police would be exploring links between organised crime, the Comancheros bikie gang and Hawi, but acknowledged that it was "too early to determine the motive for his shooting". "What I can say is this was a serious, brutal and callous attack and one that NSW Police will not stand for. We are 100 per cent committed to finding who was responsible and putting that person before the court,'' he said. Mr Lanyon said shortly after the shooting police were called to Chandler Street, Rockdale where a grey-coloured Mercedes-Benz station wagon was involved in a vehicle fire. CCTV shows two men running through Rockdale after the fatal shooting. Credit:Seven News

"We have had information provided that a male wearing all dark clothing and a balaclava was seen committing the offence ... we believe the gunman was on foot at the time the shots were fired," he said, adding that "there may well have been a second person in the [grey] vehicle". "One of the things we will focus on is ... ensuring we put sufficient resources out there to prevent any retribution that may be considered as a result of his shooting." Reshan Muthukrishna had operated a physiotherapy clinic out of the gym for the past four years, where Hawi had previously been treated for a shoulder injury. Mr Muthukrishna was seeing a patient inside the clinic when he heard "at least five" shots on Thursday. "Around 12pm we heard some big bangs, we thought it was some equipment being dropped. I stayed in the clinic and my colleague ran out, it was just chaos," he said.

"Just pandemonium left, right and centre ... people on the scene were trying to help him, administer CPR." Mr Muthukrishna said the shooting was "definitely not good for business" but "not unexpected or surprising ... [in] Rockdale," describing the Fitness First gym as a bit of a hangout for gang members and bikies. "Considering the history of this gym. There have been minor incidents with gangs and gang members training here," he said. "He trained here, Mick trained here, him and his crew. He was a regular here, he used to come once or twice a day." Mr Muthukrishna described the incident as "tragic" and added that the gym would now be closed for a few days while it remained a crime scene.

"I've got staff who are traumatised, so it's definitely not good for business ... obviously it will affect the clientele; Fitness First clientele, my clientele, this place has even more of a reputation than before." In November 2011, Hawi was found guilty of murdering bitter rival Zervas, 29, who was bludgeoned with a bollard and stabbed in the chest and abdomen in the domestic departure hall on March 22, 2009. Hawi, the then national president of the Comanchero motorcycle gang, was sentenced to a maximum of 28 years in prison with a non-parole period of 21 years. But in 2014 the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal set aside the conviction and Hawi was subsequently allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. He was sentenced to a maximum of six years and two months, with a minimum non-parole period of three years and six months.