Sydney's wild west gun crime warning

THE head of the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has warned that innocent bystanders could be wounded or killed by stray bullets if gun crime is not contained in Sydney's wild west. 
 
BOCSAR director Dr Don Weatherburn said he was concerned about increases in shootings, amphetamine use and stock theft.

The warning came as a man and his teenage son escaped injury after shots were fired into a house in Sydney's southwest overnight.

Dr Weatherburn said the jump in drive-by shootings from 73 to 88 was largely contained to four police divisions, including Canterbury Bankstown, Fairfield and Liverpool.

"Over the last 12-months we've seen a 20 per cent increase in the number of cases where there's been a discharge of a firearm into a premises," Dr Weatherburn said.    More Read