A number of witnesses to the shooting of an 11-year-old boy inside a Sydney unit are refusing to co-operate with police, as possible links emerge to organised crime.

The child was shot in the face at a luxury apartment in Norwest, in Sydney’s Hills district, around 5pm Monday.

Police are yet to interview his mother who has been by her son’s bedside as he remains in a critical condition after undergoing surgery.

“Her priority is her child. We will speak to the mother at the first available opportunity,” said Superintendent Naomi Moore on Tuesday.

Moore said the weapon had not been located.

“We believe there was one bullet, and that may still be in the victim. I think he has had his surgery and there are no other bullets that we are aware of. ”

Moore said a number of people left the scene before police arrived and detectives were still “actively” looking for them on Tuesday.

“We have a number of people who aren’t necessarily cooperating with us at the moment,” said Moore.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, a lot of people who need to be spoken to and we are looking at all possibilities in terms of what transpired in that unit.”

She said police were aware of the property and had “engaged with the occupants previously”.

Moore said one line of investigation was what, if any, connection there may be to organised crime.

The boy was shot from inside the home and was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

Four 18-year-old men and a 44-year-old woman were present at the luxury apartment complex when authorities arrived.

Three of the men were arrested, but two were released pending further investigation.

On Tuesday morning, police said one of the 18-year-olds had been charged with concealing a serious indictable offence.

Isaac Bechara faced Blacktown Local Court on Tuesday morning.

He did not apply for bail so will remain behind bars until his case returns to Parramatta Local Court on October 1.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said he understood the adults who were in the house were not co-operating with police and called with anyone with information about the incident to come forward.

The shooting was a tragic reminder of the danger of guns, he said.

“Often the people who are the victims of guns are innocent people. Many times, they’re children,” he told ABC TV.

After the incident late Monday, Moore said the 11-year-old boy’s mother was distressed by the incident and was by her son’s bedside in hospital.

“She is as distressed, as any parent would be, about what she is dealing with at the moment,” she told reporters.

“It is an (absolutely) tragic situation and as we’ve seen some tragedy across Sydney in the last couple of days, this is not far from the worst that I have seen.”

Detectives had no reason to suspect the shooting related to organised crime, she said, but would not speculate about what occurred in the house.

Police established a crime scene at the address and an investigation is continuing.
Anyone with information has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

-AAP