TWO children were very nearly inside a Barrack Heights home that was peppered with bullets in a high-stakes act of payback late Thursday.
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A man opened fire on the Clematis Crescent house about 10.30pm as five adults – a woman among them – were inside.
The woman’s three-year-old granddaughter and year-old grandson are regular visitors to the home and were supposed to stay with her that night.
But at the last minute the children’s mother decided to keep them at home in Albion Park.
The mother woke on Friday to news of what could have been.
“My mum was shocked; she was crying hysterically,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified.
“I just think that’s disgusting. I can’t believe that my two [children] could have been there. It’s way too far. The [shooter] has gone way too far.”
The shooter is known to a 54-year-old man who lives at the house.
The Mercury understands a dispute erupted between the pair earlier on Thursday.
A witness told the Mercury the home was visited by two car loads of men that afternoon.
The witness said he was making a cup of tea in the kitchen when the shooting started.
He said he was directly in the path of one of the bullets, which hit a timber hand rail and ended up lodged in a wall.
“If it wasn’t for the hand rail I would have been hit,” he said.
“I just heard the gun shots going: ‘bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang’ – about six of them. I thought it was only a cap gun; then I saw the gouge out of the hand rail and the splatter on the wall and that’s when I realised it was a real gun.
“I can’t believe this person’s running the streets with the gun in their hand still.”
Superintendent Wayne Starling, Commander of Lake Illawarra Local Area Command, said police had launched an “extensive investigation”.
Ballistics testing will determine the kind of weapon used in the attack.
Meantime, people not linked to the feud had little to fear, Supt Starling said.
“We don’t believe local residents should have too many concerns in respect of this matter.”