Several hundred mourners turned out to the funeral of the True King slain leader who was gunned down in cold-blood in front of his girlfriend.
Amar Kettule was hit with a spray of bullets on a side lane near William Street in Fairfield in Sydney’s southwest about 2.40am on Sunday.
Kettule, 34, reportedly extorted money and was high up in the True Kings street gang, with police probing whether a feud with rival DLASTHR gang led to his slaying.
Thousands of heartbroken family members, the community, and police were at St Thomas The Apostle Chaldean and Assyrian Church on Saturday morning to celebrate Kettule’s life.
Men and women alike donned a white shirt with Kettule’s smiling face printed on the front and on the back reading ‘King Ace’.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions only 100 people were allowed in the church as mourners flooded the driveway and the streets remembering Kettule.
Amar Kettule, 34, was shot dead in the street in a suspected targeted attack in Sydney’s southwest in the early hours of Sunday morning
Kettule’s white casket is covered in red roses as mourners carried white roses to throw at when it was placed in the hearse
Family and Assyrian community members flocked to the church early on Saturday morning to farewell the slain leader
White doves at the funeral were let out when Kettule’s casket was placed in the hearse
As the ceremony finished and Kettule’s casket came out, the crowd wept as they farewelled him in a massive celebration.
Drums were being played loudly as mourners cheered and others wept. Two women also fainted and were rushed inside for help.
Two men were placed on people’s shoulders as Kettule’s casket was slowly taken to the hearse.
One of the men was carrying a silver crown, representing Kettule’s ‘king’ leadership.
Another of the men were holding a photo frame of their friend who had known everyone at the funeral.
One man told Daily Mail Australia that Kettule was a good man and didn’t deserve to die.
‘No one deserves to die. No matter what you did no one deserves to be shot,’ the mourner said.
Two men were placed on people’s shoulders as Kettule’s casket was slowly taken to the hearse (pictured)
Men carried the casket out of the church and white roses were thrown at it to celebrate his Kettule’s life
Due to Kettule’s reputation, there was a heavy police presence to ensure the funeral went to plan.
Motorbike riders were however issued fines and demerit points due to defects on their bikes or helmets.
They were ordered to leave from the front of the church and not come back.
Conflict between the two Assyrian gangs peaked in 2016, with a spate of shootings and fire bombings in the city’s southwest linked to a bloody turf war.
Fairfield City Commander Detective Superintendent Glen Fitzgerald said police were investigating whether Kettule’s killing was linked to gang wars in the area.
‘We believe the attack to be targeted. He is well-known to police – however this is a violent attack on a suburban street and is unacceptable behaviour,’ he said.
Det Supt Fitzgerald said detectives would be looking into whether Kettule’s death was a revenge killing.
‘It’s part of the investigation (the feud) and a line of inquiry but the cause and motive is very unknown, it’s still very early in the investigation,’ he said.
‘We will have a number of police out on the highway doing whatever we can to eliminate any chances of any type of action happening.
‘But until we know the cause of this, it’s difficult to say what will happen.’
Kettule and his girlfriend were driving their Toyota Prado into the Fairfield Towers apartment complex as the shooting unfolded.
CCTV footage showed Kettule, wearing a white Adidas shirt and gold chains, arriving home with his partner just hours before his death at 7.30pm.
CCTV footage showed Kettule, wearing a white Adidas shirt and gold chains, arriving home with his partner just hours before his death at 7.30pm
Police are pictured at the scene after the deadly shooting. Kettule is believed to be a senior member of the True Kings street gang
At 8.40pm the couple were seen emerging from the apartment. After returning six hours later, Kettule was gunned down in a nearby alleyway.
His death is eerily similar to his brother Dylann’s, who was gunned down in a suspected drive-by shooting outside his girlfriend’s unit block in January 2014.
Kettule also has links to the Nomads bikie gang and had to be restrained by police in the aftermath of his brother’s death when he demanded to see Dylann’s body.
The conflict between DLASTHR (The Last Hour) and the True Kings resulted in more than a dozen shootings in Sydney’s southwest in 2016.
In March of that year, a True Kings member was driving with another man when shots were allegedly fired at them from another car carrying DLASTHR rivals.
The violence peaked with two separate shooting attacks on suburban houses linked to the turf war four months later, prompting police to set-up Operation Condor.
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