A 23-year-old university student has been fatally shot during a home invasion in Sydney’s south-west, with police investigating whether the attackers deliberately targeted the property or may have gone to the wrong address.
Marco Tapia was inside his family home on Mount Sugarloaf Drive in Glen Alpine when multiple offenders allegedly entered the property at about 3.40am on Tuesday, September 1. Police responding to reports of a home invasion found Tapia suffering from a gunshot wound inside the house. He died at the scene. NSW Police said the offenders had fled shortly before officers arrived, and a homicide investigation is now underway.
Acting Superintendent Gretchen Atkins said investigators currently believed the shooting was a targeted attack, but emphasized that the investigation was still in its early stages and that officers had not ruled out mistaken identity. Police are examining the circumstances surrounding the break-in, the people who may have been targeted and what prompted the offenders to enter the home.
Tapia’s family was inside the house during the attack and has been assisting investigators. Relatives have described him as an innocent young man who did not deserve what happened. Police said Tapia was known to authorities only in connection with a previous traffic offence and was not otherwise known to them for criminal matters.
The young man was studying biomedical engineering at the University of Technology Sydney and had been involved with Engineers Without Borders UTS. His death has shocked those who knew him, with reports describing him as a university student with a promising future.
Investigators are also examining a vehicle allegedly abandoned on a nearby bridge in Airds as they work to determine whether it was connected to the attack. Police have been searching the surrounding area and gathering forensic evidence as detectives attempt to establish the movements of the offenders before and after the shooting.
Police are also aware of a social media post attributed to alleged underworld figure Iziah Utai that appeared to reference the incident, using the phrase “popped the wrong person” and suggesting the wrong house had been targeted. Acting Superintendent Atkins said police were aware of the post and that investigators were considering all available information. The post and any alleged connection to criminal groups have not established a motive or identified those responsible.
The circumstances surrounding the suspected home invasion remain under investigation. Multiple offenders remain at large, and police are appealing for anyone who may have seen suspicious people, vehicles or other unusual activity around Glen Alpine before or after the shooting to come forward.
A crime scene has been established at the property, with detectives from the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad assisting Campbelltown City Police Area Command. A report will ultimately be prepared for the coroner.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Police have asked members of the public not to speculate about the motive or the identity of those responsible while investigators continue gathering evidence.
The investigation remains active, and police have not confirmed that Tapia was the victim of mistaken identity. That possibility, along with the circumstances surrounding the alleged targeted attack, remains one of several lines of inquiry as detectives work to establish exactly what happened in the Glen Alpine home in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
