Police are appealing for public assistance after a man was killed and another seriously wounded in a brazen shooting in Sydney that may have links to organised crime.

Emergency services were called to The Harold hotel on Ross Street in Forest Lodge about 6.40pm on August 17.

They found two men with multiple gunshot wounds.

Gilbert Shino, 39, was treated by paramedics but died at the scene. The other man, 31-year-old Maradona Yalda, was also treated for gunshot wounds and taken to hospital in a serious condition, where he remains under police guard.

The pair were apparently targeted while leaving the hotel in what is believed to be the latest underworld-linked attack. A hail of bullets was aimed towards the packed pub, narrowly missing staff.

“As they got closer to the vehicle they appear to have been ambushed,” Detective Superintendent Alf Sergi said.

“It was outrageous, a brazen and callous attack.”

He said a bullet narrowly missed a woman working at the hotel: “It would have been very, very frightening for them.”

The surviving victim allegedly has links to organised crime, with police believing it was a targeted attack.

“He was chased by the offender,” Sergi said. “He was shot a number of times. He slumped at the back of the hotel.”

According to reports, Yalda only recently returned to Australia and had been told of threats to his life.

NSW Premier Chris Minns described the shooting as a violent criminal act in a suburban pub.

“It’s deplorable, it’s disgusting, it’s the kind of thing that you don’t expect to see in a reasonably safe city like Sydney,” he said on Monday morning.

One local resident told the ABC there were 12 to 15 gunshots.

“At first I thought it might be fireworks, but then there was a second burst, and it was clear then they were gunshots,” she said.

Medical students and a nurse at the pub helped provide treatment, as did a doctor who lives nearby.

Police have established a crime scene, and Leichhardt detectives – with assistance from State Crime Command’s homicide squad – are investigating.

They are seeking to identify a dark blue Ford Mustang seen in the area between 3-7pm.

Anyone with information or who has dashcam or CCTV footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers (1800 333 000 or nsw.crimestoppers.com.au).

-with AAP