Following a drive-by gunshot in Sydney’s south that injured a nine-year-old girl, a 34-year-old man has been charged.
The girl was unloading goods from a car with her mother and two other kids when a shooter allegedly started firing on Queens Road in Connells Point at 5.50 p.m. on Friday.
The nine-year-old was shot in the hip and sent in a stable condition to Sydney Children’s Hospital.
The residence had been targeted twice in the previous eight months before the drive-by shooting.
After escaping the scene in a black BMW, a 34-year-old male was located by police on Neville Street in Oatley at around 7.15 p.m. He was then apprehended and transported to St George Police Station.
Grant Taylor, the detective superintendent, claimed that a second individual, who was also implicated, is still at large.
He was charged with one count of shooting with the intent to kill, was denied bail, and had a Saturday court date at Parramatta Bail Court.
According to Det Supt Taylor, a guy who lived at the Connells Point house was the intended target. Police are familiar with the individual, although he wasn’t at home at the time.
Although it is not associated with bikers, Det Supt Taylor added, “it is connected to criminal networks that we are aware of.”
It was unclear, he said, if the kids were the intended victims, although the nine-year-old, who was dressed in pajamas, would have been difficult to mistake for an adult.
The shooting was described by him as a “ungainly act of violence.”
He said, “This shooting was a risky, clumsy act of aggression that led to a youngster being transported to the hospital for surgery.”
A multi-level response was promptly put in place, and the Raptor Squad and other specialized officers collaborated to quickly find a suspected criminal within hours and collect other vital forensic evidence.
Following reports of many shots fired, emergency personnel flocked to a residence on Queens Road in Connells Point, according to police.
The nine-year-old received first assistance from emergency personnel before NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived.
One neighbor told the Daily Telegraph, “I raced outside when I heard the rounds and I could smell the gun powder.”
“I heard a woman sobbing.”
St. George Police Area Command personnel set up a crime scene and started their early investigations.
A burnt-out black BMW and a red Mini Cooper that were discovered nearby were confiscated for forensic analysis.
Nine bullets were fired into a house on the same block in November, although the two males inside at the time were unharmed.
One neighbor, who asked to remain unnamed, called the police “weak” for not doing “more” to look into the initial gunshot.
They wouldn’t have happened if they had conducted a thorough investigation. After the initial shooting, we received no communication from the police,’ he claimed.
On that occasion, cops also discovered a neighboring burned-out automobile.