A man was shot multiple times on a street in the western Sydney suburb of Lalor Park about 8.45pm on Sunday.
Officers were told unknown people fired the shots from a home and hit the man on the street.
The victim, 29, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
A man was arrested in the same street about 3am, but was later released
About an hour after the Lalor Park shooting, another man was fired upon at a home 20 kilometres away.
The 25-year-old was hit by bullets in his leg, arm and chest while in the Bass Hill home in southwestern Sydney.
He was taken to Liverpool Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
A sedan believed to be the getaway car was found on fire in nearby Georges Hall shortly after the shooting.
Fire authorities extinguished the blaze and the car was seized for forensic evidence.
Detectives are treating the Bass Hill shooting and the car fire as linked, but there is no suggestion of a connection to the other shooting.
The night of violence was indicative of a broader trend of criminals being more brazen, the NSW opposition police spokesman said.
"Questions remain about whether police have the resources they need to respond without stretching frontline services even further," Anthony Roberts said.
"The people of NSW, especially families in western Sydney, deserve to feel safe in their own neighbourhoods."
The alleged mistaken identity kidnap and murder of elderly widower Chris Baghsarian in the city in February also sparked concern about the vulnerability of innocent community members to organised crime.
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