Police vow to clamp down after second innocent man killed in Sydney crime crossfire
Police have promised a stronger presence on Sydney streets after a second innocent man was gunned down in a suspected case of mistaken identity.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the murder of two innocent people was a tragedy police “will never tolerate,” confirming that authorities are ramping up their presence to deter further violence.
Joshua MacDonald was fatally shot in the doorway of the Merryland’s West home. Facebook
“While we currently have 150 dedicated resources, I will increase the number of proactive resources… to provide additional reassurance to the public,” Lanyon said.
He added that the recent spate of shootings across the city does not reflect the behaviour of “a genuine human” and that police are turning their attention to technology to stop the string of incidents.
“What we’ve seen over the last few days are people with very little experience, who have taken a job for very little money, and who will face very lengthy jail terms when we arrest them.”
Lanyon also noted that a burnt-out car found in Denham Court following the incident may have been the getaway vehicle used in the brazen attack.
The call comes as new CCTV footage revealed that the killers involved in yesterday’s shooting death in Merrylands waited in a side street for over an hour before they gunned down innocent 40-year-old Joshua MacDonald.
Mal Lanyon declared a stronger police presence on Sydney streets following the spate of shootings. Supplied
The footage shows a dark Audi driven by the attackers sitting off Bruce Street for about 90 minutes yesterday, until a ute pulled up in the driveway of a house they were watching.
The Audi then sweeps into Bruce Street, where six to eight shots were fired from what appear to be two guns, fatally wounding a 40-year-old man who had just arrived with two children in two.
He is the second victim of a mistaken-identity shooting in Sydney in two days, after the killing of Marco Tapia in his bed earlier this week.
So far, there have been 51 shootings in Sydney alone this year, and pressure is mounting on police and the government.
Chilling CCTV vision shows the moment gunmen pulled up to ambush a man. 9News
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley rejected claims that organised crime has grown out of control, declaring that the government will not surrender its streets and describing NSW Police as “the best in the business”.
“The model we are seeing on our streets, where organised crime gangs recruit young men to do their dirty work, is insidious,” Catley said.
Catley noted that Operation Falcon, a dedicated task force established to crack down on organised crime in NSW, has resulted in more than 800 arrests since May last year.
She likened the endless pipeline of young criminals stepping up to replace those who are arrested to a game of whack-a-mole.
“It’s despicable, and it will not be tolerated.
“If the police ask us to do more, we will do it without hesitation,” Catley said, adding that the government has provided police with every resource required to tackle the issue.
“We have boots on the ground in targeted areas using intelligence and evidence. We have changed the legislation, increased penalties, and given the Crime Commission extra powers.”
NSW Deputy Premier Prue Car also said the state government is doing everything in its power to curb organised crime.
“Organised crime is not on and has never been on in NSW,” Car said.
‘Right to be terrified’
Organised crime in Sydney has become “disorganised crime” with offshore gangsters hiring teens to carry out “erratic” shootings, NSW opposition leader Kellie Sloane said.
“To have two people ... lose their lives in their homes, in their beds, in their driveways, is absolutely terrifying,” Sloane said at a press conference today.
“The people of Sydney are right to be terrified.”
Shadow police minister Anthony Roberts said sterner laws were needed and proposed a 12-year minimum sentence for anybody involved in the recruitment of guns-for-hire.
Kellie Sloane people have the right to be terrified. Kate Geraghty
“We need to understand that the landscape has changed, and policy needs to change accordingly,” Sloane said.
She said a Coalition state government would double the funding of the Crime Commission to pursue organised crime and would target “unexplained wealth” to disrupt gang figures.
Roberts, meanwhile, accused the government of sending the wrong message with its pill testing laws, which he said would facilitate the work of drug gangs.
“We seem to have a government that is more concerned with taking guns from farmers than taking guns from criminals,” he said.
CCTV captures moment of shooting
Chilling CCTV vision shows the moment gunmen pulled up to ambush a man at a Sydney home in broad daylight yesterday, a killing police suspect may be another “tragic” case of mistaken identity.
A dark-coloured Audi rounds the corner into Bruce Street in Merrylands West just after 3pm, with what appears to be a gloved hand holding a gun emerging from the rear passenger window.
Some residents recalled hearing up to eight shots following the fatal shooting. Wolter Peeters
Neighbours say they heard up to eight shots rapidly fired, before the car drove off and the victim, a man in his 40s with no links to organised crime, is left fatally wounded in the driveway.
The man, Joshua MacDonald, was treated for gunshot wounds at the scene, but died shortly after.
Police said the incident has all the hallmarks of a drive-by shooting and are investigating if the incident is linked to Sydney’s underworld war.
Superintendent Simon Glasser said the people at the location of the shooting are “very well known to police” however the victim is not, and that it could be a case of wrong place, wrong time.
Detective Superintendent Simon Glasser confirmed that the victim had no ties to organised crime. Wolter Peeters
“We believe that the man who has been shot is known to the people that reside at the address.”
He confirmed that the victim, who has no links to organised crime, arrived at the home with someone who lives at the western Sydney property and two young children.
Police believe that the children were inside their home at the time of the fatal shooting, adding that it is likely they had just been picked up from school.
“The [victim] has no adverse holdings with police.”
Glasser said that it is a possibility that he was not the intended target of the brazen attack.
A heavy police presence remains on the Merrylands West street. 9News
He added that police will be investigating whether the man was followed to the home before he was fatally shot.
A crime scene has been established, and a heavy police presence remains on the street investigating the circumstances surrounding the second fatal shooting in as many days.
On Tuesday, innocent university student Marco Tapia, 23, was fatally shot in his own home during the early hours of Tuesday morning in a suspected case of mistaken identity.
Days earlier, another man was shot in a suspected underworld attack in Guildford amid the ongoing feud between the Alameddine alleged crime family and the Coconut Cartel group.
While it is unconfirmed if the shootings are connected, it is the third shooting in Sydney in less than a week.
Glasser said “the varying conflicts will certainly form part of [the police] inquiries.”
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