Tragedy struck in the peaceful outskirts of Sydney as a gunman opened fire in Lake Cargelligo, claiming three lives on Thursday evening. The incident, unfolding around 4:40 PM, has prompted a massive police response in the remote town 450 km west of the city.
According to NSW Police, two women and a man were pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth victim, a man in serious but stable condition, was airlifted to hospital. The area remains locked down, with residents instructed to shelter in place amid an ongoing investigation.
This deadly event echoes a similar shooting four days prior in Sydney’s Lalor Park suburb. On January 18, assailants riddled a house with bullets around 11:35 PM, injuring a 46-year-old man inside. Paramedics stabilized him before hospital transfer, while perpetrators escaped by car.
Police are treating both cases as part of heightened gun crime concerns in western Sydney and beyond. Meanwhile, national discourse on security intensifies following Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s January 8 pledge for a Royal Commission into antisemitism after the Bondi Beach terror attack.
In Canberra, Albanese detailed the inquiry’s scope: assessing anti-Jewish hatred’s prevalence, aiding law agencies, reviewing the Bondi incident, and bolstering social harmony. ‘Unity and social cohesion are our top priorities,’ he affirmed. ‘It’s time for Australia to heal and unite.’
Navid Akram, the 24-year-old suspect in the Bondi rampage—motivated by ISIS ideology—now confronts 59 charges, 15 for murder. As investigators comb Lake Cargelligo for clues, these back-to-back shootings signal a pressing need for robust measures against violence tearing at Australia’s social fabric.
