SYDNEY – A 60-year-old man is in Australian police custody after allegedly firing approximately 50 bullets onto a busy street in Sydney’s Inner West on Sunday evening, resulting in injuries to more than a dozen people. The incident is a rare occurrence in a country with strict gun control laws.
Police were called to the scene after the suspected gunman began randomly firing from his property at passing cars and police. A large police contingent quickly swarmed the area and locked down the street before arresting the man inside his property, which was situated above a business. Authorities seized a rifle from the scene.
The Attack and Updated Casualties
Initial reports suggested a higher figure, but on Monday, New South Wales Police Acting Superintendent Stephen Parry revised the number of shots fired to around 50 and the number of wounded to 16.
“In my 35 years in the police, there’s been very few incidents of this nature where somebody is randomly targeting people in the street,” Superintendent Parry said.
Witnesses described the scene as chaotic. Office worker Joe Azar recalled hearing what sounded like fireworks before realizing the danger. “Some guy’s windshield blew up, then the bus stop glass shattered,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald. “The surreal feeling kicked in like, ‘Oh, this is what’s happening’.”
Most of the wounded were treated for minor injuries, primarily from shattered glass as bullets hit vehicle windows. However, one man later presented himself to a hospital with a gunshot wound and is expected to survive. The suspect sustained minor injuries around his eyes during the arrest and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Motive Unclear Amid Security Context
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon described the shooting as “serious and terrifying.” He confirmed to local radio that the gunman’s motive was unclear but stressed that there were “no known links to terrorism activity or any gang activity.”
No charges have yet been laid as a police investigation is ongoing to determine the exact cause of the shooting.
Mass shootings are highly uncommon in Australia, which implemented a comprehensive national ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania. Despite these strict regulations, the country has seen sporadic, violent incidents, including the deaths of two police officers in a 2022 shooting near Wieambilla, Queensland, demonstrating that isolated acts of gun violence remain a persistent concern.
