When police first arrived at the house after 11.15pm on Thursday, they found only one victim, a 26-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his back.

Paramedics treated him and took him to Wollongong Hospital.

According to police, one man fled during the melee.

A short time later, a 28-year-old man arrived at Wollongong Hospital with gunshot wounds to his leg, hand and wrist. 

Blood was still pooled on the footpaths on Friday morning as neighbours of the Lila Avenue home woke and set off for work.

Neighbours said the street was usually quiet. In fact, many did not hear the 11.15pm shooting, thanks to a train pulling into the nearby Fairy Meadow station.

Lila Avenue resident Ash told the Mercury she heard three gunshots.

‘‘I didn’t want to believe it because I didn’t want to freak myself,’’ she said. ‘‘Then the police showed up and I thought it must have been gunshots.

‘‘I had a snoop from the back window ... I saw heaps of ambulance, police response teams and police rescue vehicles.’’

She said she was not worried for her own safety but was concerned for the ‘‘people that were hit’’.

‘‘I’m a bit scared ... nothing like this has ever happened here before,’’ she said.

Neighbour Ed Lawler said it was a quiet area.

‘‘I didn’t hear anything; I didn’t hear any gunshots,’’ he said.

‘‘I’d just gone to put the bins out this morning and police had this blocked off and it was like: ‘Whoa’.’’

Another neighbour said his wife heard people yelling but thought it sounded like people partying as it was often noisy at that house.

He said he wasn’t worried as: ‘‘I used to live in Campbelltown – it’s just a sad fact of society.’’

Another resident said they heard pops but thought it was a train.

Police blocked off part of the street and were canvassing the area yesterday morning.

Later they called in a special operations unit to assist and officers were seen sifting through rubbish bins.

A group of four people, one of whom said he was at the property on the night of the shooting, arrived at the scene about 10am.

Wollongong police acting crime manager Detective Inspector Darren Kelly said the shooting was targeted but he ruled out gang activity.

Both men were co-operating with police on Friday and were in a stable condition in hospital.

‘‘We don’t know if it was the one person involved, or if there was more than one, so we are conducting our inquiries accordingly,’’ Insp Kelly said.

He did not know the relationship between the two men, but believed they were ‘‘both at the house previously’’.

‘‘As part of our inquiries we are still canvassing the areas, conducting a search with the public order riot squad and locating other witnesses who may be able to assist us.’’

He said there was a vehicle involved but did not have a specific description.

He said the two shot men  were known to police. No charges had yet been laid.

No drugs or weapons had been found at the scene.