smh.com.au
Police have charged the first people over more than a dozen shootings that have plagued Sydney in a month and frightened witnesses not to come forward.
Police were called to Denman Avenue, Wiley Park, in Sydney's southwest, about 3.20am (AEDT) on Sunday after reports of an argument in the street.
Witnesses said a shouting match in the street drew a verbal response from a neighbour before a single gunshot struck rang out.
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Police say the people in the street then entered a vehicle that sped away."My information is that we actually had reports of people fighting in the street followed by the sound of a firearm," Assistant Commissioner Frank Mennilli told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
Officers recovered a shell casing in the street but police would not confirm the bullet struck a residence.
A short time later officers on patrol intercepted a Nissan Pulsar on the M5 motorway near Bankstown, and arrested a young man and woman after allegedly discovering a loaded 9mm Glock 27 pistol in the vehicle.
The 25-year-old man was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm in a public place and illegally possessing a firearm.
Police charged the 23-year-old woman with concealing a serious offence and being an accessory after the fact.
Both were refused bail and ordered to appear at Burwood Local Court on Monday.
"We believe we have the firearm and the offender who was responsible," Mr Mennilli said.
The man was well known to police but detectives have not linked the incident to the more than 12 shootings in January.
Police also have charged a 21-year-old man over a shooting on Thursday, when an 18-year-old man arrived at Auburn Hospital with a gunshot wound to his back.
At the time the victim refused to speak to police.
Police arrested the older man on Sunday afternoon and charged him with shooting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and over three outstanding warrants.
He was refused bail and will appear in Burwood Local Court on Monday.
Police have also arrested a 40-year-old woman after a young man was shot twice in the leg outside his family's home at Guildford.
She was charged with two counts of possessing and supplying drugs and had her car confiscated for forensic examination.
Police launched Operation Spartan in mid-January, when nine shootings took place in eight days.
Before Sunday, a wall of silence by witnesses and victims has prevented police from making any direct arrests into the shootings.
Operation Spartan has therefore targeted more than 150 people police believe may be linked to the shootings.
Search warrants and other police activity have led to 70 people being arrested, 200 charges being laid and more than 12 firearms being seized.
"They will resort to violence, they'll resort to use a firearm whether it be domestic related, criminal activity or drug related," Mr Mennilli said.
Opposition Leader John Robertson reiterated his call for more police resources to be dedicated to quell the violence, tougher laws to deal with organised criminal gangs and cash rewards for information.
