A 77-year-old man has been rushed to hospital after he was shot inside a law firm building in Sydney’s CBD.
The man was shot in the groin by another man, aged 79, in the building on Castlereagh Street, at 12.50pm on Wednesday.
The alleged gunman was held down by ‘five or six brave employees’ before police arrived on scene.
Terrified bystanders recalled the horrifying moment paramedics wheeled the wounded man out the door before he was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital.
The building contains several law firms, including O’Brien Criminal and Civil Solicitors and Princeton Lawyers, as well as the Greek Consulate.
A 77-year-old man (pictured) was shot inside a law firm building in Sydney ‘s city centre on Wednesday afternoon
Detective Inspector David El-Badawi said police were responding to reports that multiple people had been shot.
‘Police attended the scene within three minutes,’ he said.
‘At the scene we found one male offender who was being held down by staff members in the premises.
‘He was arrested. We also found a victim in his late 70s with a gunshot wound to his grown.
‘He was treated by paramedics. He is in a stable condition and was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital.’
‘The (alleged) offender is also in his mid-70s and he is currently at Bay Street assisting police with enquiries.’
NSW Police said at this stage they did not know the relationship between the two elderly men.
The weapon was a small calibre semi-automatic pistol.
The alleged gunman is ‘not assisting’ police.
‘We don’t know his full details and we are doing everything we can to work it out right now,’ Detective El-Badawi said.
He praised the office workers who subdued the gunman.
‘The people inside the office were very brave,’ he said.
‘They restrained the offender until the police arrived.’
NSW Police are seen following a shooting on Castlereagh Street in Sydney, Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Police officers are pictured rushing to the scene of a shooting in Castlereagh St in Sydney
Detective El-Badawi said he did not believe the shooting was gang-related.
‘This was an isolated shooting. We don’t believe it was connected to any outlaw motorcycle gangs or any gang warfare,’ he said.
Inspector Dominic Wong of NSW Ambulance said the officer workers performed first aid on the victim.
‘I do believe the projectile had entered his body – it wasn’t a graze. But when we got on scene he was not actively bleeding,’ Inspector Wong told reporters.
‘He was in a stable condition. All his vital signs were within normal limits.’
Emergency services were called to the building on Castlereagh Street in the CBD, at about 12.50pm.
Officers from Sydney City Police Area Command attended and found a man suffering from a gunshot wound.
The man was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics and first responders and was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital.
A crime scene was established and the public are advised to avoid the area to allow emergency services access.
‘A man has been arrested and there is no further ongoing threat to the community,’ a police spokesman told Daily Mail .
Staff at the close by NSW Parliament have been told not to go outside.
Emergency services personnel are pictured at the scene of a shooting in Sydney’s CBD on Wednesday afternoon
PA police car, ambulance and emergency personnel are pictured at the scene
Sydney university students Arabella Fennessy and Peniana Blair, both 17, witnessed the shooting’s aftermath.
‘We were just getting the bus from Elizabeth Street and we saw all these police cars and ambulances racing down into this street,’ Ms Fennessy said.
‘We waited with a crowd for maybe 15 minutes and then a man was brought out on a stretcher. He came out of the building with the Greek flag (on it).’
Ms Blair added: ‘He looked like he was in critical condition. He was lying on the stretcher with his eyes closed.’
Workmates Cassie Economides and Rochelle Connell had just left the building when they witnessed a man dressed in a dark top being chased by police.
‘We were just leaving for lunch around 12.50pm when we saw this guy being chased by maybe a dozen cops,’ Ms Economides said.
‘He ran right past us into the building. We didn’t see if he was carrying a gun or anything, but police ran out of their cars and chased him inside the building.’
The workmates did not hear a gun go off and were unaware a man had been shot.
‘It was so scary. We were just like ‘what is going on’,’ Ms Connell added.
More to come
The injured man is seen being placed into an ambulance on Castlereagh Street