‘Lucky people weren’t killed’: Two shots fired at car in ‘brazen’ Sydney drive-by attack

A man and woman are lucky to be alive after being targeted in an “opportunistic” drive-by shooting in a quiet street in suburban Sydney.

The couple were sitting in their Suzuki Swift on Victor Street in Greystanes when the occupants of a white BMW SUV drove past and opened fire just after midday on Friday.

Police say two shots were fired but both bullets missed the pair, before the cars sped off.

Minutes after the shooting, at 12.13pm, fire crews were called to Targo Road in nearby Girraween where the BMW was found ablaze next to a block of units.

The male occupant of the white Suzuki returned to the scene shortly after the shooting, and is assisting police with their inquiries. Photographs show a bullet hole in the rear window.

The attack is the latest in a spate of public place shootings to have rocked Sydney in recent months. Police are now investigating links to organised crime.

“We believe this was a targeted attack … and potentially opportunistic,” Superintendent Simon Glasser, Cumberland Police Area Commander, told reporters.

“It’s very dangerous. It’s very lucky people weren’t killed in this attack. You know, people firing guns at each other in close distances to one another. It could have easily been a fatality.”

Police say the occupants of the Suzuki, and of the house outside which the shooting occurred, are known to police.

Glasser said there were at least two assailants in the BMW. “The only description we have is they were both wearing balaclavas,” he said.

“There are links to organised crime that will certainly form part of our inquiries.”

The Greystanes attack follows a series of deadly public place shootings in Sydney.

In mid-August a 31-year-old man with organised crime links was shot and killed in Forest Lodge in the city’s inner west. Days later a man was shot and killed by a gunman outside his Winston Hills home. The two shootings are not believed to be linked.

Several high-profile underworld figures have also been targeted in shootings over the past six months amid an escalating gangland feud.

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