CANBERRA is not in the midst of a gang-related turf war and residents need to remain calm, police have urged, following a third drive-by shooting in the Gungahlin area.
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Some residents are scared, but Detective Superintendent Brett McCann said the shooting was a ''coincidence''.
''There is no need for them to be fearful, there is no spate of crime or gang warfare or anything like that - these are three isolated incidents, as best we know,'' Superintendent McCann said.
Residents of the Ngunnawal home were asleep when two shots were fired through the front lounge window on Friday morning.
The residents of the Leita Court home told ACT Police they did not wake up at the time the shots were fired, and it was a witness who alerted police to the shooting on Friday night.
The witness told police they had heard what sounded like gunshots at about 1.10am on Friday and had seen a car drive away from the area after the shots were fired.
Two spent casings were found in Leita Court.
A nearby resident, who was too afraid to have her name published, said she wanted to know what the police were doing about the case.
''It was like a firecracker, it was an explosion. I thought I heard a couple, but it's all really confused - we came out but we saw no one,'' the woman said.
''I'm very worried about what has been happening around here. Hopefully they find out what's going on with the shootings. We hear about this in Sydney - it's quite awful for it to happen in your own street in Canberra.''
Superintendent McCann said police were investigating, but had discovered no motive for the latest shooting. ''On the information we have before us at the moment, the three incidents are not linked.''
He said all three shootings used different calibre firearms.
''We want to try to get the message out that there's been a significant reduction in gun crime in the ACT over the past five years. In fact, there has been a decrease of 34 per cent in reported incidents involving firearms since 2008. Whilst it is extremely unusual for us to have three in such a short time in one geographical area, we would say it's a coincidence.''
Superintendent McCann said police had obtained and executed six search warrants during their investigation of the shootings, but no arrests had been made.
''I reiterate that people just need to take stock of the situation.''
The Ngunnawal shooting follows a bullet that was fired through the window of an Anthony Rolfe Drive property on August 8, three days after a tattoo parlour on the same street was sprayed with bullets.
■ Superintendent McCann is appealing for anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via www.act.crimestoppers.com.au. Information can always be provided anonymously.
