Former NRL and Wests Tigers star Matt Utai was shot in the chest and leg in a brazen drive-by shooting in Sydney’s south-west yesterday.
First responders were called to Macquarie Street, Greenacre, about 6am after reports of multiple gunshots being fired from occupants of an SUV, which sped away after Utai, aged 44, was shot twice.
Four ambulance vehicles were dispatched to Greenacre, where they discovered Utai conscious as he was treated for gunshot wounds.
He has been rushed to the hospital in a serious condition.
Police were then called to nearby Samuel Street in Wiley Park, where they found a burnt-out SUV suspected to be used in the shooting. The car was seized for forensic examination after the fire was extinguished by Fire and Rescue NSW.
Crime scenes have been established at both locations, as Bankstown detectives treat the incidents as linked.
Utai, born in Auckland in 1981, burst onto the rugby league scene for the Bulldogs in 2002, earning the Dally M Rookie of the Year award after a first-season return that included 13 tries and 15 line-breaks.
He was an integral member of the Bulldogs’ 2004 premiership-winning team, in which he scored two tries in the grand final to help his side topple the Roosters.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
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