A MAN has died and another is in hospital following a double shooting at Punchbowl in Sydneys southwest this afternoon.

Paramedics were called to Lumeah Avenue, Punchbowl around 4:10pm following reports that up to fire gunshots had been fired.

Police found a man’s body at the back of a home – another man was found at the front of the property also suffering gunshot wounds.

The second man was taken to Canterbury hospital while the other man is believed to have died of his injuries.

An extensive canvas is under way with the Dog Squad and a PolAir helicopter.

Officers believe they are looking for more than one offender, which are yet to be located.

A senior police source said the identity of both men had not been established, however the second man, now in hospital, was a Middle Eastern male'.

His injuries were said to be quite severe, the source said, but added that there was nothing "outstanding'' to link this incident with recent homicides that had plagued the south western suburbs.

This includes the murder of Comanchero Faalau Pisu, 23, at Canley Vale earlier this month, the double-shooting of drug cook Roy Yaghi, 32, and his friend Jamie Grover, 26, at South Wentworthville, or the shooting death of Yehya Amoud, 27, and the wounding of Bassam Hijazi, 32, at Greenacre in October

"At this stage nothing stands out... so there's nothing to link it to any one of those incidents,'' the source said.

A second police source said both men were "aged in their 30s'' and neither of them appeared to be "known to police'' for criminal associations.

Both were believed to be middle-eastern males.

A number of response units had been deployed to canvas the area, including members of the gun-crime taskforce Operation Spartan.

The homicide squad had also been called to take over the matter.

The source said the motives behind the death did not appear as obvious as in other recent cases.

"Normally when something like this happens we're across it really quickly - but in this case, we're not... it's going to take a while.''

Crime scene officers are en route to the area to inspect the incident.





Originally published as One man dead after double shooting