Teenagers arrested over shooting that nearly killed boy
The pair, allegedly hired by organised crime groups, shot at two homes in Merrylands and Guildford West in western Sydney in March and April respectively.
A woman and four children aged between six months and five years, were sleeping in the first home when about 28 bullets were fired from a semi-automatic rifle.
The bullets travelled through bedrooms and bedheads, with one bullet missing the five-year-old by approximately 20 centimetres.
The gunman left a threatening note at the scene after the 3.30am shooting but police allege the woman and the children inside were the wrong targets.
The intended targets were the home's previous occupants who had crime group affiliations, detectives say.
The second shooting in April involved 15 bullets being fired into a granny flat about 2am.
The suspected target, a 26-year-old woman with alleged links to a gang member, escaped unscathed.
Months of investigations ended on Wednesday with the arrest of a 15-year-old boy accused of firing the gun in both shootings.
Another boy, also 15, was arrested for playing a role in the Merrylands drive-by shooting.
The shootings are among more than a dozen public shootings, arson attacks and kidnappings across Sydney since Christmas, leading police to set up a 150-officer-strong taskforce in May to crush the underworld warfare.
The Taskforce Falcon commander warned young people working for criminal syndicates, "this isn't a game".
"Your actions are putting the lives of others at risk," Detective Superintendent Jason Box said on Wednesday.
The boys were not paid a significant amount of money, he said.Gangs were recruiting teens by word of mouth and encrypted apps.
"The intent was to kill or seriously injure someone in both those premises," Det Supt Box said.
"They're committing these offences against organised crime network entities, serious criminals on behalf of other serious criminals. "I really don't think they can understand the gravity of what they're doing and how real this whole scenario is."
Social media glorifying crime has become influential in how teenagers are easily lured into consorting with organised criminals, he said.
The pair were charged with several firearm offences and were refused bail to appear in a children's court.
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