Sydney, Oct 19 (IANS) A man has been charged over a firearm incident that triggered a lockdown and major emergency response in Australia’s southwest Sydney.
Police said on Monday that a 32-year-old man was arrested in Sydney’s inner-west around 11:30 pm on Sunday and charged with seven offences, including possessing a shortened firearm without authority and robbery while armed with a dangerous weapon.
The arrest followed a three-day search after emergency services were on Friday morning called to reports of a stolen vehicle in Dulwich Hill, six kilometres southwest of central Sydney, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Officers were told at the scene that a man was armed with a firearm inside a stolen vehicle before he allegedly set fire to the vehicle and left the area on foot.
The incident triggered a major emergency response, with local residents, businesses and schools placed into lockdown for over three hours while police searched for the man.
The firearm was not recovered by police during the arrest.
On September 22, two men were hospitalised after they were assaulted during a home invasion in western Sydney.
Emergency services were called to reports of the attack in Lalor Park, 28 km west of central Sydney, around 7:30 am local time on September 22.
A police statement said that responding officers were told that two men had entered a home and assaulted a 64-year-old man and a 44-year-old man before leaving the location.
The victims were treated by ambulance paramedics and taken to the hospital in serious condition.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that they both suffered injuries to their heads.
Police established a crime scene and commenced an investigation into the attack.
In a separate incident, a child was hospitalised with critical injuries after he was shot at a home in northwest Sydney on Monday.
Police in the state of New South Wales said that officers were called to reports of a shooting at a residence in the outer northwest Sydney suburb of Norwest and arrived to find an 11-year-old boy had sustained a gunshot wound to his face and neck.
He was treated at the scene by ambulance paramedics before being taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Three 18-year-old males, who were among five other people present at the home at the time of the incident, were arrested. Two were later released pending further inquiries, and the third was charged with concealing a serious offence.
Superintendent Naomi Moore told reporters on Monday night that the boy had undergone life-saving treatment in hospital.
–IANS
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