Emergency services were called to Berkeley Vale on the NSW Central Coast at about 6:15am on Wednesday after reports of a shooting.
A 37-year-old man was found with gunshot wounds to his hand and torso, NSW Police said.
He was treated by paramedics and airlifted to hospital where he remains in a stable condition.
Police arrested a 20-year-old man at Gosford train station on Thursday morning and took him into custody, where they allegedly found cocaine on him.
Officers also allegedly found a Glock pistol and eight rounds of ammunition after searching his house in western Sydney.
Detective Acting Superintendent Brad Abdy said the shooting was most likely a "crime as a service", meaning the alleged shooter was hired for the attack.
Police do not believe the alleged shooter and victim know each other.
He said detectives were looking into potential links to organised crime and that the alleged victim was cooperating with the investigation.
"The levels (of organised crime incidents) are concerning at the moment," he told media on Friday.
"Police are obviously applying resources to identify those criminals, disrupt them, and prevent those crimes wherever we can."
Wednesday's attack follows a number of shootings in the state in recent weeks which police believe involved reckless young guns-for-hire carrying out attacks on behalf of gang bosses, including two mistaken identity killings in two days.
The 20-year-old has been charged with 11 offences including shooting with intent to murder and shooting with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He was known to police but had previously committed only minor offences, Det Act Supt Abdy said.
"That's not uncommon, unfortunately, in crime as a service ... where the people committing the crimes may initially only have very minor offences," he said.
The alleged shooter appeared in Gosford Local Court on Friday morning, and was remanded in custody to return to court in November.
18°C