Two houses have been burned down and six people have been arrested during an eruption of violence in the remote community of Daly River, which residents say has made some people homeless and put others in fear of their lives.

Police say in the early hours of Wednesday, up to 25 people armed with various weapons drove into the community and started damaging houses, before setting a vehicle alight and firing shots.

Four people were taken to the local clinic requiring pellets to be removed from their skin.

The same day, two houses in the community were set alight, though no one was inside at the time.

Police have arrested six people in relation to the violence, who are expected to be charged with weapons, property and violent conduct offences.

Additional police support, including tactical unit the Territory Response Group (TRG), has been sent to the community to help quell the unrest.

'We were just terrified'

Residents in Daly River, which is located about 220 kilometres south-west of Darwin, say they are being terrorised by local gangs.

John Daly, a resident and former police officer, said the rioting in the community had escalated over the past two weeks.

He said in one incident, members of a gang called the Jovi Boys had targeted his son's house with rocks and crossbows. 

The Jovi Boys are an outback criminal gang that formed in the nearby community of Peppimenarti, which has been involved in car theft, property damage and violence in the Darwin and West Daly regions.

"We were in fear for our lives," he told ABC Radio Darwin on Thursday.

"There were arrows flying everywhere, [and] louvre blades, steel bars, rocks.

"They'd outnumbered us by about 80 people. There was nothing we could do to try and get our mob out. We just had to hunker down for the night."

Mr Daly said despite making frantic calls to triple zero, police did not arrive until 24 hours later.

When gang members returned a second time, he said he believed he was going to die. 

"We were in fear of our lives at this stage," he said.

Locals criticise police response

Another Daly River resident, Lana Daly, was living in one of the houses burnt down in the unrest and is now homeless.

She said authorities had not provided enough support to the community.

"There's been a lack of support from the government — we are all homeless here — and a lack of support from  the police," she said.