But police remained tight-lipped about whether the incident, at Campsie in the city's southwest, was linked to a string of gangland attacks that have left several people dead and seriously injured.
Officers were called to a car park about 9.20pm on Tuesday to find a 27-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his head and chest.
He was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to hospital in a serious condition.
A short time later, emergency services were called to nearby Kingsgrove after reports of a car fire.
Police arrived to find a Mercedes sedan crashed into a house and alight, but no one was injured.
Two more burnt-out cars were found in neighbouring suburbs and investigators are looking into the likelihood the crime scenes are linked.
Detective Inspector Claudia Allcroft said the 27-year-old was getting into a car with another man when they were set upon by at least two attackers.
She added that investigators believed the shooting was targeted and the victim was known to police, but she would not say if the incident was linked to recent gangland warfare.
"We're still in the early stages of our investigation, so I wouldn't like to speculate on motive at this time," Det Insp Allcroft told reporters on Wednesday.
She said police were speaking to a number of witnesses from the surrounding area and the man was lucky to survive the shooting.
"Regardless of who the victim is, these public acts of violence are unacceptable," she said.
The latest shooting follows a string of gangland attacks across Sydney in recent months, leading police to set up a task force to tackle the growing levels of underworld violence.
The incidents date back to the unsolved murder of drug lord Alen Moradian in Bondi Junction in June.
Police are urging anyone with CCTV, dashcam footage or information relating to the latest shooting to come forward.
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