MELBOURNE, Australia — A shooting in a town in Australia's New South Wales state on Thursday left three people dead and another wounded, police said.
Emergency services were called to an address at Lake Cargelligo, a town of around 1,500 people, at 4:40 p.m. following reports of shooting, a police statement said.
Three people — two women and a man — were dead, and another man was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition, police said.
The shooter or shooters appeared to be at large.
State police were working to locate the gunman and sent resources from neighboring districts to the town, including heavily armed tactical police, The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported.
The elite Tactical Operations Unit was on its way from Sydney armed with high-powered weapons and will ''contain the threat," an unnamed source told the newspaper.
Police used geo-targeted text messages to urge the public to avoid the area and for local residents to stay inside and contacted. The Commercial Hotel, a local pub, was closed by 6 p.m., the newspaper said.
Local resident Manisha, who did not want to give her family name, told Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper there were police cars and ambulances ''all over town."
