Gunman at Large After Three Killed in Eastern Australia

SYDNEY, Jan 22, 2026 (AFP) - 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."