Drive-bys, bail and teen gunmen: Sydney’s shooting surge ‘out of control’

Sydney is in the grip of a new gang war, with 14 drive-by shootings in just three months - a shocking statistic for a country that prides itself on being a world leader in gun control, writes Josh Hanrahan.

Despite falling official stats, police say Sydney’s gun violence is out of control, with 14 drive-by shootings in three months — some involving teens.

Police have, in recent years, made a habit of denying a rise in the number of shootings.

That is because the statistics technically show the rate of gun related violence on Sydney’s streets, and across wider NSW, is down.

Cops can remember previous gang conflicts such as the days of the 5T in Cabramatta in the 1990s, the Razzak-Darwiche war of the 2000s, and Brothers for Life conflict of the 2010s, when bullets being sprayed into homes in drive-by shootings was an almost nightly occurrence.

But one senior source confirmed to me recently there was no hiding from it anymore – the number of shootings at the minute, they said, is out of control.

Since the gang war escalated in late-2020, the city has become accustomed to crime figures being gunned down.

These shootings have often occurred under the cloak of darkness, with a burnt out car being dumped by the killers a suburb or two away, and the media racing to the scene to trot out the now overworn phrase of the incident “having all the hallmarks of an underworld execution”.

Police have arrested and charged three members of ‘Brothers for Life’ following a proactive operation throughout Sydney and the Central Coast back in 2014. Their war caused fear on the streets, but today the game has changed, writes Josh Hanrahan. Picture: NSW Police

But over the past three months things have changed.

As The Daily Telegraph has today mapped out, there have been 14 drive-by shootings over that same period – a shocking statistic for a country that prides itself as being a world leader when it comes to gun control.

Police allege that some of those shootings have been carried out by teenagers.

Even more worrying is the fact that when police have put some alleged major crime figures caught up in the current conflict before the courts on gun possession charges, those men have been granted bail the same day.

Police know they cannot do it alone and have more openly than ever before called on the courts to help.

It is important the courts listen, because while Sydney has been lucky not to have had another murder since Taskforce Falcon was launched, if we are not carefully that luck will soon run out.

The Road to War: Watch all three episodes here

Originally published as Drive-bys, bail and teen gunmen: Sydney’s shooting surge ‘out of control’