Car torched, multiple shots fired, and a crashed ute: Teens arrested after brazen attack in Sydney’s west
By Penry Buckley
A car has been torched, a barbershop sprayed with bullets, and two teenagers have been arrested at the scene of a crashed vehicle after a police pursuit in Sydney’s west early on Thursday morning, in incidents which police allege are connected.
NSW Police responded to reports of shots fired at the Universal Barbershop near North Parade, Mount Druitt, at 2.20am on Thursday.
Earlier they arrested two 17-year-old boys at the site of a crashed vehicle, in which they allegedly found two balaclavas, a jerry can of fuel and two firearms.
Three separate crime scenes have been established after a barbershop in Mount Druitt was sprayed with bullets overnight on Thursday. Credit: Nine News
On arrival at the barbershop, near Westfield Mt Druitt Shopping Centre, officers found several bullet holes in the shop’s window. So many bullets were fired, police had to use lettered evidence markers after running out of numbered ones, Channel Nine has reported.
At about 2.10am, emergency services responded to reports of a vehicle on fire near Blacktown International Sportspark on Football Drive, Bungarribee, where they extinguished a blaze.
A car was found alight in Rooty Hill early on Thursday morning. Credit: TNV
Earlier, just after 2am, officers patrolling Eastern Road in the Rooty Hill area launched a pursuit after attempting to stop a grey Toyota Camry because of the way it was driving.
The vehicle, which police said was stolen, failed to stop as directed before crashing into a parked car on Moody Street a short time later. The alleged driver and passenger, two 17-year-old boys, were uninjured and arrested on scene, and the balaclavas, fuel and weapons were found inside the vehicle, police say. Police allege the teenagers were responsible for the shooting.
The owner of the parked car told 2GB he was woken by a loud bang before seeing the alleged offenders pinned down by officers outside his home.
“From what I was told, and I don’t know if this is 100 per cent accurate, they’ve come screaming down the street here, and this is a dead-end cul-de-sac in Rooty Hill,” he said. “They’ve mounted the curb, and he didn’t see my two-and-a-half tonne, four-wheel drive truck parked on my driveway.”
The teenagers, who are known to police, were taken to Mount Druitt Police Station and are assisting with inquiries.
Speaking outside the station, Detective Superintendent Darrin Batchelor said the motive behind the shooting is unknown, but police are investigating whether the three incidents inside 20 minutes have links to organised crime.
“As we can see by the timings, 2am, with no members of the public around and certainly no employees in the business, it would indicate that it was certainly a message to those owners,” he said.
Batchelor said the grey Toyota Camry was allegedly stolen some time ago, and police are investigating whether the torched vehicle, which police believe may have been used to leave the shooting, was also stolen.
He said he expected charges against the two teenagers, who are receiving legal advice, to be laid later on Thursday.
More to come
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