NSW organised crime: Two shootings in two days of innocent victims prompts major police crackdown

The deaths of two innocent people in two days has prompted a major crackdown on organised crime in New South Wales.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the “murder of two innocent people” would not be tolerated.

He said that over the past two days, the state had seen “Public-place shootings, murders, the theft of motor vehicles, and a range of matters”.

On Tuesday, 23-year-old Marco Tapia was shot dead during a home invasion at Glen Alpine.

On Wednesday, a man in his 40s died after he was shot at a home in Western Sydney.

Detective Superintendent Simon Glasser said the man’s home was associated with Sydney’s underworld, but the victim was not.

“People that are linked to this address are known to Sydney to organised crime,” he said.

In both cases, police are investigating the possibility that neither victim were the intended targets.

Mr Lanyon said law enforcement recognised the pattern of the recruitment of “young” and “inexperienced” people, often through encrypted communication.

The Commissioner said technology was a focus for police and that more officers would be deployed to “provide additional reassurance to the public”.