breaking news:
Gunshots heard in Cronulla
December 13, 2005
GUNSHOTS have been heard in Cronulla after racial violence erupted in the southern Sydney area again overnight.
Police could not confirm reports a person had been shot, but reporters in the area said they heard gunshots near the Northies Hotel.
The hotel is located opposite North Cronulla beach, the scene of race-fuelled violent attacks targeting men of Middle Eastern appearance.
Cronulla residents last night flooded the suburb's streets with some claiming they had been told by police they could carry weapons as long as they were discreet.
Scuffles broke out when police apprehended five men near the hotel and held them to the ground.
As photographers tried to photograph the scene an angry crowd gathered around the men yelling "come on boys smile, make your mum proud" and "don't worry you've got some friends in jail".
Residents said the men had come into the area in carloads from Lakemba, but police could not confirm this. A police spokesman later said reports of at least one shooting were unconfirmed.
Six people have been arrested for affray and taken to Miranda and Sutherland police stations for questioning.
"(There have been) a number of cars damaged along Elouera Road and shops at Caringbah (also were damaged)," the spokesman said.
"I understand there was someone injured outside Cronulla police station. She was treated by ambulance at the scene but I don't know any more information about that one."
At The Kingsway in the neighbouring suburb of Caringbah, a car was rammed into the front of a denture clinic.
The passengers then emerged from the vehicle and attacked a customer in a pizza restaurant two doors down from the clinic, a security guard said.
He said the customer, a woman, had been taken to hospital.
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