Residents of a usually quiet Horsley street have described the frightening moments they heard gunshots from a home in broad daylight.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Scared residents called Triple 0 after they heard a number of shots being fired and a person screaming on Denham Drive at 10.30am on Friday.
Lake Illawarra Police Chief Inspector Paul Allman said officers arrived shortly after and arrested a 33-year-old man who lives at the house for alleged breaches of a firearm prohibition order.
[My husband and I] came out and the lady across the road said 'get back inside, we are on the phone to police. The house has been shot up next door.'
"It is quite evident to me that those shots have come from the front of the house towards the public street," he said.
"It was not a drive-by.
"There are a number of premises fronting onto this property as well as a school 70 metres away.
"It is very concerning and quite a dangerous situation.
"We have been lucky on this occasion that no innocent members of the public have been injured."
Insp Allman said the man's partner and children were inside the home at the time.
A resident, who did not wish to be named, said she was laying down when she heard a "popping" sound.
"I got up and thought, is that a gunshot?" she said.
The resident then thought it was a race starter gun in the nearby school.
"I saw a white car come flying back up past the house," she said.
"[My husband and I] came out and the lady across the road said 'get back inside, we are on the phone to police. The house has been shot up next door.'
"We just came back inside and within five or 10 minutes the street was covered with police."
The resident said the incident was "scary".
"It is concerning to think this nice little street has been shot up," she said.
"You hear it happening in other areas but you don't expect it to happen in your own yard.
"This is a lovely street. It is a lovely neighbourhood.
"But to have this go on across the road shows you just don't know what is happening behind closed doors."
She said she would have never thought it would happen in her street.
Another resident said he arrived home in his car and as he got out he heard gunshots fired.
"It was all happening as I got out of the car. It all happened pretty quick. It was crazy," he said.
"A guy ran down the road, got into a car and took off.
"I thought the shots were a nail gun at first because there is work going on next door."
On Friday afternoon, uniformed and plain-clothed police as well as crime scene and forensic investigators remained at the house on Friday afternoon collecting evidence.
A strike force team has been established to investigate the incident.
"We are attempting to obtain as much ballistic evidence from that scene we can," Insp Allman said.
The man was taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station and is being interviewed by officers.
Insp Allman could not comment on a possible motive or reason for the shots being fired, and would not confirm witness reports that a second car was seen driving from the street.
He could not provide further information whether the man was known to police, if he owned a firearm or licence or what gun or bullets were used.
The man is expected to be charged on Friday and will appear in Wollongong Local Court on Saturday.
Police are calling on any members of the public who saw the incident to call the police station.
