As of yesterday, police were investigating seven shooting incidents since Monday. Detectives are trawling intelligence on the homes targeted, and their occupants, to try to understand the attacks. Assistant Commissioner Frank Mennilli, commander of Operation Spartan, told The Sunday Telegraph on Friday that the attacks were being perpetrated by criminals already on the police radar. "Many of these incidents are interrelated," he said. The Sunday Telegraph has been made aware of some intelligence gleaned so far, which includes: A DRIVE-by shooting on Monday night on a home in Marion St, Auburn, was targeting a former Bankstown police officer, Mohamed Rameh Yaghi, who was jailed in 1999 for heroin and cocaine supply. That shooting is linked to another in Arncliffe the same night over a drug dispute; A CAR recovered by police after a shooting at Greenfield Park on Wednesday was not reported stolen and is registered to a Middle Eastern man who is known to police and is now considered a suspect. He has since gone underground; A HOME and car peppered with bullets on Fairview St, Arncliffe, on Monday was the target of a similar drive-by shooting on February 17, 2006. Police believe both incidents were drug-related; A YENNORA home shot on Thursday night was occupied by a woman whose son is on remand for drug and other offences being investigated by the Property Crime Squad. The same house was targeted in a shooting last year; and THE owner of a townhouse on Alan St, Yagoona, which was hit by three bullets on Friday has a criminal history for drug matters. Police believe that shooting may be linked to the attack at Yennora. Mr Mennilli said efforts were being made to stop further violence and put pressure on suspects. He said despite the frequency of the shootings over the past week, only tenuous links existed between them and reiterated his frustration with victims trying to pretend not to know why their houses had been targeted.
===================================================================================================== IS it ever going to stop? Police are investigating Sydney's sixth drive-by shooting in four days after revealing that shots were fired at a house in a Yagoona at 2.30am today. Three bullets holes were found in the front window of a townhouse on Alan Street and police found five bullet casings outside the premises after they were called by a neighbour who heard the shots. No one was at home during the incident and no one was injured. The head of the new police operation targeting Sydney's drive-by shootings, Assistant Commissioner Frank Mennilli, has warned the gunmen that it is only time before an innocent victim is hit. Mr Mennilli, the South Western Region Commander and head of Operation Spartan, urged witnesses to come forward in relation to the overnight shooting, the sixth in Sydney in four days. He echoed police frustration about the community protecting the gunmen. "Some members of the community are involved and clearly know what has occurred but have chosen not to co-operate," he said. "They are not only letting their community down but in some cases committing a criminal offence. "Police are worried that an innocent child, youth or adult will be injured during these mindless and irresponsible acts. These criminals are using firearms putting the rest of the community at risk." Police have confirmed that officers with local area crime commands have arrested and charged two men over two of the 49 drive-by shootings that have rocked Sydney in the past 10 months.
A 29-year-old Sefton man was arrested after four shots were fired from a utility into a house on Junction Street, Yennora in August last year. He has been charged with unlawful discharge of firearm relating to the incident in Yennora, as well as other offences relating to other investigations. In November, a Granville man was charged following a drive-by shooting into a house in Broughton Street at Old Guildford. The 21-year-old was charged with discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and discharging a firearm into a dwelling. Outside Sydney, a woman and three men have been charged over two drive-by shootings in Singleton Heights in August. The 23-year-old woman, and three men aged 26, 30 and 40, were charged with the offence of fire firearm at dwelling house with disregard for safety, and a charge of goods in custody. The NSW Police State Crime Command has confirmed there have been no charges laid over drive-by shootings by the major squads investigating the other drive-by shootings. Wall of silence Police have blamed a wall of silence and called on the community to help them get guns off the streets. Now frustrated officers want tough new powers to force victims and witnesses to co-operate with police, The Daily Telegraph reported. Last night there were reports of another drive-by shooting in Sydney's southwest, with shots fired at a home in Larra St, Yennora, about 8.25pm. A woman and two children were in the house at the time. As another house was shot up yesterday, narrowly missing a two-month-old baby girl as she slept in her baby bassinet, Acting Commissioner Nick Kaldas said: "There are people who are victims who know who shot them and witnesses who know registration numbers of the cars used. "What we are looking for is a way to compel the witnesses to tell us what they know." Mr Kaldas said people were reluctant to help, either because they were scared, did not want to get involved or because to do so would reveal criminal activity of their own. "What we have witnessed in recent days and weeks is unacceptable," Mr Kaldas said. "Gun crime of this type is frightening for victims and local communities and it is very frustrating for police." Mr Kaldas said being able to force witnesses to talk would be more of a deterrent and police were talking to the government about what they could do. "It is probably the only thing we need to add to our armoury," he said. The latest shooting happened at Bankstown, in Sydney's west, when a bullet was fired through the window of a bedroom where a woman and her four children, aged between two months and 10, were asleep.
Witnesses told police they saw a man wielding a rifle in a neighbourhood before the shooting. In response, police have set up Operation Spartan, which will work closely with state crime command squads and use other resources including the dog squad, Pol Air and local area commands to try to end the gun attacks. Police have charged numerous people with offences including armed robbery, assault and car jacking as a result of their investigations into the drive-bys but no one has been charged with any of the shootings through a lack of evidence. The offence of discharging a firearm with intent carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail. Director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research Don Weatherburn said the spate of recent shootings was the worst he had seen in a decade. Opposition police spokesman Nathan Rees said it was now time to make arrests. "This government has now had nearly a year to collect intelligence and have these men under surveillance," Mr Rees said. "It's now time to start arresting them and convicting them." The opposition also called for a new offence to be created for drive-by shootings with much tougher penalties. But acting Attorney-General Chris Hartcher said the penalties in place were adequate.
Police declare crackdown on shootings Police insist they will catch the gunmen terrorising Sydney's west following the fifth shooting this week. "We didn't anticipate that the (shootings) would cease immediately," Acting Deputy Commissioner Alan Clarke told the Seven Network. He said officers from the Operation Spartan crackdown were nearby when the Yennora shooting occurred. And Mr Clarke insisted cops will round up Sydney's gunmen, pointing to today's arrest in Perth of a man suspected of fatally shooting Lone Wolf bikie Neal Todorovski in south Sydney last week. "We are getting results ... and we will continue to get them," he added. Meanwhile, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has revealed he approached Prime Minister Julia Gillard last year for help dealing with gun crime. But Mr O'Farrell claims she ignored him after he asked for tough new national anti-gang laws. Mr O'Farrell wrote to Ms Gillard in June 2011 asking for help after NSW laws designed to curb bikie gangs were scrapped by the High Court. "I wrote to Julia Gillard immediately after that legislation was struck down and said `we need national legislation here to remove any doubt'," he told Macquarie Radio Network. "Because the fact is outlaw motorcycle gangs operate across state borders. "If there's national legislation, it can't be struck out by the High Court - it would ensure police services across the states co-operate." Mr O'Farrell said national action was also needed to prevent guns being brought into Australia and moved across state boundaries. The premier said Ms Gillard had not responded.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/police-have-a-hit-list-of-sydney-shooters-following-recent-crime-wave/story-e6freuy9-1226244476096
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