Non-fatal shootings statistics in NSW
The following table provides information on the short (2 year), medium (5 year) and long (10 year) term trends in the number of incidents of non-fatal shootings recorded by the NSW Police Force.
Tables: Non-fatal shootings excel table
The next update will be available: Sept 2022
Full list of available reports
Background: NSW Police record four types of non-fatal shooting offence. These are: shoot with intent to murder, shoot with intent other than to murder, discharge firearm into premises and unlawfully discharge firearm. Below are some general descriptions of these four incident types which are taken from police descriptions of a sample of these incidents:
- Discharge firearm into premises - in most of these incidents gunshots were fired into a residential premises from the street. It appears that the intention is usually to threaten rather than to physically harm residents. Some of these are shootings where the firearm is discharged from a vehicle but many gunshots are also fired by an offender on foot. Police reports suggest that there is usually a pre-existing relationship, often of a criminal nature, between offender and victim. Some residences, however, appear to be mistakenly targeted such as where shots are fired into the former residence of a known offender. Often residents are present at the time of the shooting and this sometimes includes family members and children.
- Unlawfully discharge firearm - in most of these incidents gunshots are fired with the apparent intention to threaten or frighten the victim (similar to discharge firearm into premises). This offence also includes (but is not limited to) shootings where the firearm is discharged from a vehicle. Frequently gunshots are fired into the air, towards a dwelling, into parked cars or in the vicinity of (but not necessarily at) a victim. In most cases the victim is present to hear or see the gunshot. This category also includes a small number of cases where people are either accidentally shot, shot in ambiguous circumstances or where an animal is shot. It appears that few of these incidents are for the sole purpose of maliciously damaging property as they tend to involve an element of menace.
- Shoot with intent offences (shoot with intent to murder and shoot with intent other than to murder) – in most of these incidents the victim is deliberately shot. The victims of these offences are overwhelmingly male and many do not wish to cooperate with police investigations. Many incidents are apparently planned attacks against known individuals where the victim is approached and shot at their residence or in the street with the intention to maim (as evidenced by injuries to the legs or knee caps) or kill (injuries to the chest or head). In other incidents it appears that the shooting is not premeditated and it arises in the course of the commission of another offence or there a dispute escalates and one of the involved parties has a firearm.
The chart below shows the number of incidents of non-fatal shootings recorded by the NSW Police Force between 2010 to 2019.
