Two men shot in Sydney’s west, torched car in Merrylands

For hours after the shooting, the area swarmed with ambulances, police cars and fire engines. Police guarded two black-clad men with their hands bound on the footpath, until they were led away just after 7pm.

More officers stood beside the ute, which was sitting at an intersection with all its doors open. The passenger window and both passenger-side wheels had been shot out. The vehicle was surrounded by rubbish and shattered glass.

The attack occurred on a busy stretch of Church Street that travels under the M4 overpass, near the Vauxhall Inn and several car dealerships, including the Mercedes-Benz and Porsche Parramatta showrooms. There was heavy traffic, and people were urged to avoid the area.

This shooting breaks the pattern of gangland attacks in Sydney. Most involve drive-by shootings of a home, or shootings of targets in secluded or suburban streets late at night. This was in the early evening, on a busy arterial road.

Police Minister Yasmin Catley said she was “horrified by the level of violence we have seen on our streets tonight”.

“I understand the community is concerned and rightly so. I want to assure them that police are working around the clock to identify and arrest those responsible,” she said in a statement on Sunday night.

Police believe that at least two people were involved in the attack; a typical gangland shooting involves one trigger man and one driver, beyond those involved in the planning. One line of inquiry will be whether the car was bugged.

Police sources say investigators are not treating Sunday night’s shooting as linked to the murder of John Versace, who was executed in the driveway of his Condell Park home by a masked and hooded gunman on Monday last week.

With Angus Dalton and Sally Rawsthorne

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.