Australia: 1 dead, 1 injured following shooting in Sydney's inner west

Sydney, Aug 17 (IANS) One man was dead and another has been hospitalised with serious injuries following a shooting outside a hotel in Sydney's inner west area on Sunday, reports said.

Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) said in a statement that emergency services were called to reports of a shooting outside a hotel in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Forest Lodge around 6.40 p.m. (local time) on Sunday, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Officers arrived to find that two men had been shot multiple times by unknown assailants, who subsequently left the scene in a vehicle.

Ambulance paramedics treated both victims, but one died at the scene. The second man was transported to the hospital in a serious condition.

According to local media, witnesses reported hearing between six and 12 gunshots.

NSW Police said that a crime scene has been established and that detectives have commenced an investigation into the attack with assistance from the state homicide squad.

Last week, a man was airlifted to a hospital in a critical condition following a shooting in eastern Australia, police in NSW said in a statement.

The emergency services were called to reports of a shooting at a home in the small town of Nana Glen, about 440 kilometres northeast of Sydney.

Officers arrived and were told that a 22-year-old man was shot in the chest by a man known to him following an argument.

The victim was treated at the scene by ambulance paramedics before being airlifted to the hospital, where he was in a critical but stable condition on Sunday morning after undergoing surgery.

About 30 minutes after the shooting, officers stopped an SUV in the nearby city of Coffs Harbour and arrested a 20-year-old man. A rifle was seized during a subsequent search of the vehicle.

The 20-year-old was taken to a local police station and charged with six offences, including shooting with intent to murder as an act of domestic violence and possessing and using an unauthorised firearm.

NSW Police established a strike force to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

--IANS

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