Sydney shootings: Two in hospital after gun attacks in Earlwood and Roselands

A driver found with gunshot wounds to his buttocks was one of two men hospitalised in overnight shooting incidents in Sydney’s south

Another two shootings overnight have prompted “concern” from one of the state’s top cops despite “no evidence” of links to an ongoing feud between two Sydney crime families.

About 11:35pm on Saturday police rushed to Barnes Avenue, Earlwood after a man was allegedly shot while sitting in the backyard of his home.

The 53 year-old was shot repeatedly in his stomach and leg and treated at the scene before paramedics raced him to hospital in a stable condition to undergo surgery.

Four hours later at 3:30am on Sunday, police found a wounded 32 year-old man inside his bullet-riddled Holden Captiva in Roselands.

Officers went to the corner of Stoddart St and Moorefields Rd, Roselands and found the Captiva with bullet holes in the driver’s side, before spotting the 32 year-old driver with gunshot wounds to his leg and backside.

The man was also treated at the scene before being taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Police seized the vehicle and have set up a crime scene, with Moorefields Rd closed for most of Sunday.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner and South West Metropolitan region commander Peter Thurtell said there was “no information” so far the two shootings were linked but both new attacks were “targeted”.

Police are seen at the scene of a shooting in Earlwood, where they found a man in his backyard who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his stomach and leg. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

He said both overnight victims were known to authorities and police would still investigate their backgrounds.

“There’s no evidence to suggest that those shootings are linked, however we’re not discounting anything in these investigations… but we’re looking into the backgrounds and business dealings of both victims,” Asst Comm Thurtell said

“There’s a strong belief that these were both targeted, if you take into consideration the time and place, of someone sitting on their back veranda or someone who just happened to be in their car at 3:33am in the morning when they get shot, these are often indications.”

Police remain at both crime scenes on Sunday, and could not yet confirm what sort of gun was used in either shooting.

The two incidents mark three shootings in three days after a Guildford home associated with the Alameddine family was sprayed with bullets in the early hours of Friday morning.

A man was home at the time but uninjured.

Asst Comm Thurtell said there was also “no evidence of any connection” of the two shootings to a feud between crime families.

He said despite the incidents being “difficult” for police to investigate, police would still “get to the bottom” of each shooting.

“These types of shootings are often difficult for us to investigate because quite often the victims don’t really help us in our investigations,” he said.

“But anytime there’s a shooting in a public place it’s of concern to us… anytime there’s shots being fired in a public area there’s always the danger of someone innocent getting shot.

That’s why we need to get to the bottom of this.”

It comes amid an ongoing police crackdown on gun violence between the Hamzy and Alameddine families, whose rivalry sparked into a war in October when Hamzy family patriarch Mejid Hamzy was gunned down outside his Condell Park home.

NSW Police applied for serious crime prevention orders out against two men linked to either family, Rafat Alameddine, Masood Zakaria, Ibrahem Hamze and Ghassan Amoun.

Amoun is the brother of Mejid Hamzy and notorious Supermax inmate Bassam Hamzy. The orders heavily restricted the men’s ability to move around freely.

The battle for territory has previously been identified as among the causes of the conflict between the two powerful families.