An 11-year-old boy who was shot in the face inside a Sydney apartment has died in hospital, as detectives investigate how an illegal firearm came to be in the property.
The boy was injured at the Moda complex in Norwest on Monday afternoon. Police believe he may have accidentally shot himself while handling the gun, but have not ruled out the possibility that another person inside the apartment fired it accidentally.
His mother and several 18-year-old men were in the apartment at the time and were not injured. The boy suffered wounds to his face and neck and was taken to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in a critical condition.
Police said his family withdrew life support on Thursday night. His father, a convicted cocaine dealer, paid tribute to him in a social media post, writing: “Rip my baby.”
Other members of the boy’s extended family are linked to organised crime and are known to police. Investigators have said they do not believe the shooting was connected to ongoing conflicts between Sydney organised crime networks.
Detectives have been unable to establish precisely what happened because none of the occupants has co-operated with the investigation, police said. The family has co-operated with officers.
Homicide squad commander Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi said investigators had spoken to all but one of the people inside the apartment when the shooting occurred.
Police have not located the firearm and believe one of the men at the property left with it before emergency services arrived. No firearms were registered to the apartment.
“It’s evident that one of the occupants or one of the persons present at the unit has taken the firearm away shortly after the shooting and got rid of the evidence,” Mr Doueihi said.
Isaac Bechara, 18, remains in custody charged with concealing a serious indictable offence. He was arrested at the apartment with two other 18-year-old men, who were released without charge, and did not apply for bail when he appeared at Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday.
No one has been arrested over the boy’s death.
