Paul Bibby
March 10, 2008 - 3:55PM

A man is fighting for his life after turning his gun on himself following a shoot-out with police in Sydney, police say.

Several officers were buying lunch in Eastwood\'s shopping district about 1.30pm today when they noticed a man acting suspiciously.

They chased him to a laneway off Progress Avenue where the man shot at them, prompting the officers to return fire, police said.

The man then turned the gun on himself and shot himself in the head.

He was rushed in a critical condition to Royal North Shore Hospital, where he was operated on.

David Stirling was renovating a fruit shop just metres from where the shooting took place.

I was basically in the middle of this gunfight, it scared the s--- out of me,\'\' he said.

We heard these bangs on the door, we went out to see what was going on and the cops were there shooting.

I couldn\'t see the guy, I couldn\'t see his face. They were shouting, \'put the gun down! Put the gun down!\' and then they just opened fire ... \'\'

The officers yelled at Mr Sterling to get back and he ducked inside the fruit shop as the shooting coninued, he said.

I didn\'t see what happened next, just heard the shots and then the ambulances came,\'\' he said.

Three ambulances arrived at the lane within minutes, he said.

Nearby chicken shop owner Jenny Leung, whose son-in-law was also working at the fruit shop, watched as the critically injured gunman was wheeled into one of the ambulances.

We heard the shots ring out, I saw the flashes, I just thought it was kids shooting a bird or something.

[My son-in-law] heard the bangs, and saw bullet holes in the roller door. There were lots of shots, maybe 10, 12 shots.\'\'

The Commonwealth Bank branch which backs onto Coolgun Lane has been closed for a number of weeks.

Shop owners and witnesses were at a loss to explain the gunman\'s actions.

We don\'t know what he was there, the fruit shop wasn\'t even open, they\'ve only been there for a couple of weeks,\'\' said a shop owner, who did not wish to be named.