Police charge 25 people in crackdown on Sydney gun crime
A man who police allege was involved in a shooting murder attempt at Lakemba last month has been charged in a police operation targeting gun violence in Sydney's south-west.
Twenty-five people have been charged with a total of 42 offences as part of Operation Clampdown, which was established to investigate shootings in the region over the past two months.
Police have charged 25 people and executed searches at 54 properties as part of an operation targeting gun violence in Sydney’s south-west. Credit:NSW Police
The Lakemba incident – where police allege four men chased and shot Fairfield man Mark Shammo in the torso and legs – was one of 12 shootings in south-western Sydney across August and September, including five in public places.
The 23-year-old man was arrested while police were executing a search warrant at a Bankstown home on Friday.
He was charged with shoot with intent to murder, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and breach of bail. He appeared at Parramatta Bail Court where he was formally refused bail, and is next due to appear at Bankstown Local Court on November 10.
Police have executed searches at 54 properties since the operation began on September 3. Seven vehicles were also searched.
Officers allegedly seized 13 firearms, including seven pistols and a homemade firearm, as well as prohibited drugs, cash, an electronic stun device, knives, knuckle dusters, ammunition, a ballistic vest, 380 false credit cards and 101 mobile phones.
Police Minister David Elliott said the operation sent an unequivocal message to the perpetrators of gun violence that no one was above the law.
"Their reckless actions show a flagrant disregard for community safety and this government will not tolerate this vigilante behaviour," he said.
"For the past week police have sent a powerful message to any person that continues to flout the law – you can expect to be arrested and you will be put before the courts."
Investigations under Operation Clampdown are continuing and police have urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
Mary Ward is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.