A 60-year-old man is in custody in Australia after he allegedly shot up to 50 bullets into a busy Sydney street, wounding one person critically, according to police.
Detectives were set to interview the suspect on Monday, as they seek a motive for the mass shooting incident, which is a rare occurrence in Australia.
The Sunday night shooting caused panic in the Sydney suburb of Croydon Park, as the suspect fired a .30-calibre rifle at random from his apartment window at passing vehicles. Police stormed the unit and apprehended him to bring the assault to an end.
“It is incredible that nobody died,” Stephen Parry, acting New South Wales police superintendent, told a news conference.
One of the victims, a man in his 50s, was shot in the neck and chest. He was taken to hospital in a critical condition, where he underwent emergency surgery, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Fourteen others were treated at the scene for shock or minor injuries, including from glass from shattered car windows, emergency services said.
The suspect was also taken to hospital with injuries sustained during his arrest, but has since been taken to a police station, the ABC reported.
Firearms offences
The suspect has no links to organised crime or terror organisations, according to Parry.
“No mental health history” is known to police, and there were “very few” prior interactions with authorities, the police official added.
Charges of firearms offences are likely to be filed.
Parry noted that the incident was highly unusual. “In my 35 years in the police, there’s been very few incidents of this nature where someone is firing randomly, targeting people in the street driving past in vehicles,” he said.
Mass shootings are relatively rare in Australia, where a ban on automatic and semiautomatic weapons has been in place since 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania.
The shooting caused panic in the busy Sydney suburb.
Office worker Joe Azar told The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper that he was working across the road when he heard what he thought were fireworks or rocks being thrown at the windows.
“Some guy’s windshield blew up, then the bus stop glass shattered,” he said. “The surreal feeling kicked in like, ‘Oh, this is what’s happening’.”
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