ACT police are investigating whether Tuesday's Forrest car park shooting was connected to another shooting incident last weekend in Queanbeyan.
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ACT chief police officer Ray Johnson said investigators were also examining whether an accomplice was with the alleged shooter at the time of the incident, which left a woman with gunshot injuries.
The alleged shooter was arrested in Weston Creek about 11am on Tuesday, following a territory-wide search.
It's alleged the man shot at a woman inside a car in a Forrest car park about 8.10am, opposite Telopea Park School.
Shots were fired at head-height into the driver's side window, and the woman suffered gunshot and shrapnel wounds. Police said she was "very lucky" to survive the attack.
The woman drove to Manuka Oval and flagged down security staff, who administered first aid before she was taken to Canberra Hospital.
The officer in charge of the scene at Manuka Oval, Superintendent Stephen Turnbull, described the incident as a "very random act".
The man is expected to face the ACT Magistrates Court over the incident on Wednesday, charged with attempted aggravated robbery, discharging a firearm, endangering life and assault causing actual bodily harm.
Police said on Tuesday that drugs might have been a factor behind the incident.
Speaking on ABC radio on Wednesday morning, Chief Police Officer Johnson said officers did not believe the man and the woman knew each other.
"There's no information to suggest a connection," he said.
The ACT police chief said officers were looking into links to a shooting incident on Saturday in Queanbeyan.
In that incident, a man was shot in an apparent road rage incident on Molonglo Street in the early hours of Saturday morning.
A NSW police spokeswoman said on Tuesday that Queanbeyan officers were working with their ACT counterparts on the matter.
Queanbeyan police said they were searching for a Caucasian man in his 30s over the shooting.
"At this stage inquiries are ongoing. We haven't confirmed a connection but it's a matter for the investigation," Chief Police Officer Johnson said.
ACT police would also examine whether the man in Tuesday's incident had been alone.
"That would be a line of inquiry to see whether there was an accomplice with the individual at the time [of the shooting] or subsequently," Chief Police Officer Johnson said.
In the hours following the shooting, police said there was no threat to public safety, despite the alleged offender being at large for more than three hours.
The head of ACT police said the message from police had been the right one, saying messages to the public weren't made prematurely.
"It was the right message to send. It was a matter of judgement and police make the best judgement they can before sending out a safety message," Chief Police Officer Johnson said.
"There was a significant amount of work to bring the offender into custody.
"The help of the community is critical, the help we got from the community yesterday was great."