Gunman fired up to 100 bullets on busy Sydney street at random, injuring 20, police say

A 60-year-old man was arrested Monday in Australia after police said he fired up to 100 bullets at passersby, injuring 20 people in the country’s most populous city.

New South Wales police said they were called on Sunday evening to a street in Sydney’s Inner West, where the alleged gunman was firing at random cars and police. One man with a gunshot wound transported himself to the hospital following the incident, police said. He is in a “serious” condition. 

Another 19 people were treated for shrapnel or shattered glass injuries, with several taken to the hospital, authorities said.

Acting New South Wales Police Superintendent Stephen Parry said “anywhere between 50 and 100 shots” were fired between 7:45 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. local time on Sunday night in Croydon Park, a suburb of Inner West.

A large contingent of police swarmed the area and locked down the street before entering a unit above a business and arresting a 60-year-old man. They seized two rifles from the scene.

The accused shooter was also taken to the hospital and treated for wounds sustained during his arrest, police said. No charges have been filed against the alleged gunman yet.

Joe Azar, who was working across the road, told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper that he heard what he thought were fireworks or rocks being thrown at windows.

“Some guy’s windshield blew up, then the bus stop glass shattered,” he told the newspaper. “The surreal feeling kicked in like, ‘Oh, this is what’s happening.'”

“It was frantic. It all happened so quick, so I couldn’t comprehend what was going on,” he added.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon described the shooting as “serious and terrifying.” The gunman’s motive was unclear but there were “no known links to terrorism activity or any gang activity,” he told local radio station 2GB. A police investigation is ongoing.

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Australia.

A ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons has been in place since 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania.

In August, alleged gunman Dezi Freeman went on the run in the bush after being accused of killing two police officers. He remains at large.

And in 2022, six people, including two police officers, were killed in a shooting near the small Queensland town of Wieambilla.