Man fatally shot in targeted attack at Sydney service station identified as police investigate organised crime links

A man ambushed and shot dead at a busy service station in an inner-city suburb of Sydney has been identified.

Niddal Acherkouk, 31, was sitting inside his vehicle at a service station in Surry Hills about 7.45pm on Friday when he was attacked.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Man shot dead on Sydney street identified.

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today

He fled the scene, suffering a critical gunshot wound.

“He got out of the vehicle and went on foot down Cleveland Street, generally west to a point where he eventually died near Baptist St on Cleveland Street,” NSW Police Superintendent Andrew Garner said.

A Porsche was later found alight in the nearby suburb of Kensington, and NSW Police believe the incidents are linked.

The shooting was “definitely a targeted attack” but there is no broader risk or threat to the public though the shooters remain at large, police said.

“This is not a Sydney point and spray drive-by that we have seen so much of … this is a very well-planned organisation,” true crime author and former detective Duncan McNab told 7NEWS.

“They are comfortable with the firearms that they’ve got.”

Police sources have since told 7NEWS they had warned Acherkouk he had a target on his back.

“That could be $500,000 to $1 million … it wouldn’t surprise me at all,” McNab said.

7NEWS understands Acherkouk had links to organised crime, with police saying they believe he was the intended target of the attack.

The number of offenders and their movements following the shooting is still being investigated.

“This outrageous incident demonstrated a high level of reckless indifference to the public around that area at the time,” Garner said.

“We’re coming for you.”

Garner was unable to comment on whether the latest shooting would likely spark reprisals.

One witness who was having dinner nearby told 7NEWS they heard four “pops” before “all of a sudden everyone started running up Crown St and that was the moment it felt quite real”.

“We thought someone might have been running up the street shooting … but by that stage I think the shooter was long gone,” he said.

Another witness said they heard three to four shots fired before turning to see “a person on the ground, and a car just drove off”.

A third woman said she heard “what sounded like fireworks, and then people were screaming and yelling”.

“It was quite shocking … we were then just waiting for police to come.”

-With AAP