20 hurt in Sydney gun attack

International

AT LEAST 20 persons were injured when a gunman opened fire on a busy Inner West street in Sydney on Sunday (local time).

Authorities said the shooting erupted shortly after 7 p.m., with witnesses reporting as many as 100 shots fired before heavily armed officers stormed the area.

“Anywhere between 50 and 100 shots were discharged,” New South Wales Police Acting Superintendent Stephen Parry said in a BBC report. “It was an extremely volatile situation.”

Residents and workers scrambled for safety as bullets struck cars and nearby buildings.

“I thought it was fireworks at first,” said office worker Joe Azar, who was across the street when the gunfire began. “Then a car’s windshield exploded, the bus stop glass shattered — that’s when it hit me that this was real.”

Police sealed off the area and tracked the gunfire to a unit above a local business, where officers arrested a 60-year-old man after a brief standoff.

Two rifles were seized from the property. The suspect, who sustained minor injuries during the arrest, was taken to a hospital under police guard.

One man was treated for a gunshot wound and remains in serious condition, while 19 others suffered injuries from flying debris and broken glass.

Hospitals across Sydney were placed on alert as emergency services responded to the mass casualty event.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon ruled out terrorism or gang involvement, saying early findings point to an isolated act.

“There’s no indication this was ideologically driven or linked to organized crime,” he told 2GB radio. “It appears to be the act of a lone individual.”(Xienderlyn Trinidad, USJ-R Comm Intern)