Australia shooting updates: Incident likely a domestic dispute; man killed ex-GF, two others, says report

Australia shooting live updates: This blog is now closed and will not be updated

Anyone with information about the Lake Cargelligo shooting incident is urged to contact Central West Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The shooting was suspected to be a domestic violence attack, Sydney Morning Herald reported, without citing where it got the information. The Guardian Australia reported that police are not treating it as terror related.

The incident comes about a month after an attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney, when two ISIS-inspired gunmen killed 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration.

“A crime scene has been established and an investigation into the circumstances of the incident has commenced,” New South Wales Police said in a statement. The suspected shooter appears to still be at large, local media including broadcaster ABC reported.

Australian police said they were hunting for a gunman on the run after three people were shot and killed Thursday in a small, lakeside town in the country's east.

Officers warned people to stay indoors in the country town of Lake Cargelligo, 450 kilometres (280 miles) west of Sydney.

New South Wales police said they found a man and woman dead in a vehicle after responding to reports of shots being fired in the town in the late afternoon.

A second shooting soon afterwards killed a woman and wounded a man who was reported to be in a "critical condition" in hospital.

"At this stage, police have identified an offender who is still at large," said Andrew Holland, New South Wales police assistant commissioner.

"We have a large search in the area currently underway. We are requesting that people remain indoors," he told reporters.

The gunman is believed to have fled in a vehicle, Holland said.

Police declined to comment on the relationship between the gunman and the victims or any possible motive for the shooting.

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald said one of the victims was believed to be the gunman's former partner, describing the incident as a suspected domestic violence attack.

Police said the shooting would worry many residents of the country town, which has a population of about 1,400 people.

"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 concerned," said Holland.

"The scene faced by the emergency services officers at that time would have been horrendous."

Assistant Commissioner Andy Holland urged Lake Cargelligo residents to stay indoors and away from windows and report any suspicious behaviour, including suspicious movement in their backyards or suspicious vehicles, to police.

“It’s a tragedy that’s taken place in a very small country town, and it will have a big effect on the community,” Holland said.

While the police said that it had identified the gunman responsible for killing 3 people in Lake Cargelligo, it is yet to release suspect's name or any other details.

After the shooting, the gunman was believed to have fled the area in a vehicle, the police said, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report.

Assistant commissioner Andy Holland said that the gunman and all the victims were local to the Lake Cargelligo area.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Andy Holland said police had identified the gunman, and a large-scale search was underway in the area to locate him.

The gunman, who remains at large, shot and killed a woman believed to be his former partner and a man with her at a home in Lake Cargelligo in the NSW Central West on Thursday afternoon. The man then travelled to a second home in the town, where he shot two other people known to him, killing a woman and seriously injuring a man with her, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald, the Lake Cargelligo shooting incident is suspected to be a domestic violence attack.

Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland was asked about the police plan to keep the community safe in the meantime as they try to catch the shooter, who still remains at large.

"There will be an increased presence of police in that location; we have a public order riot squad possibly coming out to ensure the safety of the community," he said.

A major investigation around the Lake Cargelligo shooting is now underway with the homicide squad, Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland told the media.

Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland said that the police is on a high alert following the Lake Cargelligo and the Bondi Beach shooting incidents.

"Senses would be heightened at the moment ... they'd be on high alert, they are trained to deal with these situations though," the officer told a news conference.

Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland confirmed no police officers were among the deceased.

He told the media in a press conference that those killed were Lake Cargelligo locals.

Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland, Western Region Commander, said in a press conference that the incident occurred at about 4:20 PM, with police called to shots fired in a vehicle.

"Upon arrival they located a male and female deceased in the vehicle, a short time later, a second report of shots fired was made," he said.

Upon arriving at the second scene, police discovered another male and female with gunshot wounds.

In total, two women and one man have died from their injuries, with another male in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

New South Wales, 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, Reuters reported.

On the day that Australia saw another shooting incident, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was applauded after apologising to the Jewish community at the service to remember the Bondi Beach victims, as he began his address.

“We cherish the promise of Australia. That this country is a safe harbour,” he was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying.

“Sadly, that promise was broken. You came to celebrate a festival of light and freedom, and you left with the violence of hatred. I am deeply and profoundly sorry that we could not protect your loved ones from this evil.”

Lake Cargelligo is a small town west of Forbes and north of Griffith in Australia's New South Wales state. The town has a population of about 1400, according to the 2021 census.

Police used geo-targeted text messages to urge the public to avoid the area and for local residents to stay inside and contact them.

The Commercial Hotel, a local pub, was closed by 6 PM (local time), the Sydney Morning Herald reported

Police are working to locate the gunman and have dispatched resources from neighbouring policing districts to the town, including heavily armed tactical police.

The tactical operations unit is on its way, armed with high-powered weapons, and will “contain the threat”, sources quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald said.

Australia shooting live updates: The shooting comes on a National Day of Mourning as Australia remembers the 15 people shot dead in Sydney at a Hanukkah celebration on December 14.

Authorities say the two alleged Sydney gunmen were inspired by the Islamic State group to carry out Australia's worst mass shooting since 1996.

Australia shooting live updates: The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported that a gunman was still at large and was believed to be holed up in the town with a long-arm weapon.

Independent MP and the member for Barwon, Roy Butler, said it was "tragic news" out of Lake Cargelligo.

"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.

Two women and one man have died in the shooting at Lake Cargelligo in Australia's New South Wales, and another man has been taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition, police said.