Police have charged the first people over one of many shootings that have plagued Sydney in a month and frightened witnesses not to come forward.
Police were called to Denman Avenue, Wiley Park, in Sydney's southwest, about 3.20am (AEDT) on Sunday after reports of an argument in the street.
Witnesses said a shouting match erupted between people standing in the street before a gunshot rang out and a vehicle sped away.
"My information is that we actually had reports of people fighting in the street followed by the sound of a firearm," Assistant Commissioner Frank Mennilli told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
Officers recovered a shell casing in the street but police would not confirm that the bullet struck a residence.
A short time later, officers on patrol intercepted a Nissan Pulsar on the M5 motorway, near Bankstown, and arrested a young man and woman after discovering a loaded 9mm Glock 27 pistol in the vehicle.
The 25-year-old man was charged with recklessly discharge a firearm in a public place and illegally possessing a firearm.
Police charged the 23-year-old woman with concealing a serious offence and accessory after the fact to the incident.
Both were refused bail and ordered to appear at Burwood Local Court on Monday.
"We believe we have the firearm and the offender who was responsible, Mr Mennilli said.
The man was well known to police but detectives have not linked the incident to the more than 12 shootings in January.
Operation Spartan was launched in mid-January when nine shootings took place in eight days.
Last week two men were shot in separate incidents, with one of them refusing to speak to police.
Police have since arrested a 40-year-old woman in relation to a young man shot twice in the leg outside his family's home at Guildford.
She was charged with two counts of possessing and supplying drugs and had her car confiscated for forensic examination.
Before Sunday, a wall of silence by witnesses and victims has prevented police from making any direct arrests into the shootings.
Operation Spartan has therefore targeted more than 150 people police believe may be linked to the shootings.
Search warrants and other police activity have resulted in more than 70 arrests, 200 charges laid and more than 12 firearms seized.
"It is not one person or one group but a number of people that have total disregard for the community of this state," Mr Mennilli said.
"They will resort to violence, they'll resort to use a firearm whether it be domestic related, criminal activity or drug related."
Opposition Leader John Robertson reiterated his call for Premier Barry O'Farrell to recall parliament early to give police greater powers to make more arrests.
"What we need to see is more resources thrown at this (and) tougher laws to deal with these gangs and criminal thugs who are carrying these drive-bys out," Mr Robertson told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
"And we need cash rewards for information."
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