One man is dead and another is in hospital with serious wounds after a shooting outside the Harold Park hotel in Forest Lodge, Sydney, which police described as 'outrageous' and 'brazen'. Emergency services were called to the pub on Ross Street at about 6.40pm on Sunday.
New South Wales police said two people had been shot multiple times by unknown assailants who left the scene by car. Detective Superintendent Alfio Sergi of the Leichhardt Police Area Command said the victims were walking from the pub to their car when they appear to have been 'ambushed' by one or more gunmen.
A 39-year-old man died at the scene despite treatment from police, paramedics and a local doctor. A 31-year-old man was chased and shot several times; he was found slumped at the back of the hotel and received first aid from police and medical students. He remains in a critical condition after a second round of surgeries.
Detective Superintendent Sergi described the shooting as a 'targeted attack' and said police would investigate any links to organised crime networks. He added that a bullet hit a pub window and nearly struck a female staff member. Police are searching for a dark-coloured vehicle and have appealed for witnesses and dashcam footage.
One eyewitness told the ABC she heard more than a dozen shots and initially thought they were firecrackers until she saw a family running and screaming. Another witness told the Sydney Morning Herald she saw a man shot at least six times in the neck, chest and legs. Leichhardt detectives are investigating with assistance from the homicide squad.
