At least three people were killed, and a man was wounded in a shooting in a rural Australian town on Thursday, with reports that the shooter was still at large, the police said.
Three people – two women and a man – were dead, while another man was taken to the hospital in a serious but stable condition, the New South Wales (NSW) police said.
Residents of Lake Cargelligo, a small town of around 1,500 people west of Sydney, were urged to stay indoors and avoid the area where the shooting took place.
Assistant commissioner Andrew Holland said the police have “identified an offender, who is still at large”.
“We have a large search in the area underway,” he told reporters.
The shooter, who has an apprehended violence order (AVO) against them, fled the scene in a council-owned vehicle, the local 7News reported. The AVO prohibits a person from threatening, intimidating, harassing, stalking, assaulting, or damaging the property of a person in need of protection.
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported that a “gunman” was believed to be holed up in the town with a long-arm weapon.
The emergency services were called to the area at about 4.40pm local time following reports of a shooting. “The public is urged to avoid the area and for local residents to stay inside,” the NSW police said.
“A crime scene has been established and an investigation into the circumstances of the incident has commenced,” they said in a statement.
Manisha, a local resident who did not want to give her family name, told Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph that there were police cars and ambulances “all over town.”
“The town is made of just two main streets. We can hear the sounds” of sirens, she told the newspaper. Lake Cargelligo is located in the centre of NSW, about 240km south-west of Dubbo City.
According to the SMH, the incident was being treated as a suspected domestic violence attack, and not as an act of terror.
A police spokesperson reiterated to ABC that people in the town should stay inside. “We will be throwing everything at it that is available.”
Mr Holland has said that upon arrival, the police located a male and female deceased in a vehicle, and a short time later, a second report of shots fired was made. “Upon arriving at the second scene, police discovered another male and female with gunshot wounds,” he said.
He added: “Any death in a small country town is confronting, but again, a scene where you have people shot by firearms is obviously going to make people very, very tense and very, very concerned.
“I’m sure they’ll be looked after by police and we’ll be caring for their welfare in the future. What I will say is that it’s a tragedy that has taken place in a very small town that will have a big affect on the community.”
Roy Butler, the MP for Barwon, said in a social media post that he had learned the tragic news just moments after getting off a plane. “It’s a terrible situation, and it’s still live, so we don’t have much information. My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” he said.
The shooting occurred as Australia observed a National Day of Mourning for the 15 people shot dead at Sydney’s Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration on 14 December.
Australia on Tuesday passed a new law to enable a national gun buyback and tighten background checks for firearm licences in response to the shooting.
NSW, which has the most guns of any state in the country, has also passed laws to limit individuals to possession of four guns and mandate gun club membership for licence holders.
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