Australia: Police investigating 2 shooting and fire incidents in Sydney's western suburbs

Sydney, Oct 16 (IANS) Sydney police are investigating two shooting and fire incidents that occurred in the city's western suburbs in the early hours of Thursday.

Police in the state of New South Wales (NSW) said in a statement that emergency services were called to reports of a fire in Cabramatta, 26 km west of central Sydney, at around 12:45 a.m. local time on Thursday, Xinhua News Agency reported.

On arrival at the scene, officers found a house and vehicle both alight.

Both fires were extinguished, but the house and car sustained significant damage.

Police officers were told that a number of gunshots had been heard, and subsequently found bullet casings at the scene.

In another statement, NSW Police said that emergency services received reports of loud bangs, believed to be gunshots, and a car on fire, on North Liverpool Road in Green Valley, in Sydney's southwest, shortly after 1 am on Thursday.

The occupant extinguished the fire a short time later.

Police said that officers attended and established a crime scene at 7 a.m., where some bullet casings were found on the roadway. Police believe several shots were fired into the air. There were no reports of injuries or property damage.

On October 5, police in the Australian State of New South Wales said that a man was taken to the hospital suffering a gunshot wound, and a number of other people have reported injuries.

Police were called to Georges River Road in the inner-west Sydney suburb of Croydon Park at about 7:45 pm local time on Sunday, after reports of a shooting. It locked down the area with specialist resources attending to assist.

A man was arrested in a building on the road at about 9:30 pm, and firearms have been seized, according to the statement.

--IANS

int/akl/mr