A 28-year-old woman has been charged over the fatal shooting of electrician Joshua MacDonald in Sydney, with police alleging she acted as a lookout and helped a gunman escape.
Mr MacDonald, 40, was walking towards a house in Bruce Street, Merrylands West, at about 3.15pm on September 2 when he was shot dead.
New South Wales Police said Strike Force Haleno detectives arrested the woman after executing a search warrant at a unit in Wollongong at about 2.30pm on Friday.
She was taken to Wollongong Police Station and charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder, participating in a criminal group contributing to criminal activity, and failing to comply with a digital evidence access order direction.
Detectives will allege in court that she conducted surveillance for the gunman and assisted with the escape. She was refused bail and appeared before the Bail Division Court on Saturday.
Police suspect Mr MacDonald was killed in a mistaken gangland hit. He had no known links to organised crime and was not believed to be the intended target.
It is understood he had been visiting a house whose occupants were allegedly well known to police for organised crime activity.
An 18-year-old man, Jimmy Schulz, was arrested in West Hoxton at about 5.30am on September 11. He was charged with murder and participating in a criminal group contributing to criminal activity and remains before the courts.
Police allegedly seized a drone following Mr Schulz’s arrest, and detectives are examining it forensically after uncovering evidence they believe links it to the shooting.
Mr MacDonald’s aunt and uncle, Darlene and Trevor Norton, said he died after stepping in front of his best friend Nick Brown and Mr Brown’s two young daughters.
“That’s Joshua all over. If he’d known those kids were in danger, [or if] anyone was in danger, he’d put himself in front [of them],” Ms Norton said.
Mr Brown described his friend in a message shared by Ms Norton as his “children’s and my own guardian angel”.
Ms Norton said she initially refused to believe her nephew was the victim when she heard about the shooting. She recalled sending him birthday wishes days before his death, to which he replied: “Thank you. Can’t wait.”
The investigation is continuing, with detectives also examining a separate fatal shooting in south-west Sydney that occurred the day before Mr MacDonald was killed.
Marco Tapia, 23, was shot in his bedroom at a two-storey house in Glen Alpine, near Campbelltown, at about 3.40am. His family were at home at the time, and he was not known to police beyond a traffic offence.
Two boys, aged 14 and 16, have been charged with murder, participating in a criminal group, contributing to criminal activity, possessing an unauthorised prohibited firearm and two counts of driving a conveyance taken without the owner’s consent. The 14-year-old also faces a charge of damaging property by fire or explosion.
Police will allege the teenagers staged vehicles and provided a weapon for the gunman. Both were refused bail, while a third male remains wanted.
One line of inquiry is whether the suspected attacks were organised from overseas and carried out by young local offenders.
