SYDNEY, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- A gunman remained at large on Thursday night after three people were shot dead west of Sydney in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW).
NSW Police Force Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland told reporters on Thursday night that officers were called to reports of shots fired in the small town of Lake Cargelligo, 450 km west of Sydney, around 4:20 p.m. local time on Thursday.
Officers arrived at the scene and found that a man and a woman had been fatally shot inside a vehicle, Holland said.
Police were then called to a second report of shots fired at a separate location, where they found another man and woman with gunshot wounds. The woman died, and the man was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Holland said that police have identified the offender who is believed to have fled the area in a vehicle, with a major search underway involving officers from all sections of the NSW Police Force.
"We are requesting that people remain indoors in the Lake Cargelligo area for their own safety," he said.
He said that authorities were considering deploying officers from the public order riot squad to ensure the safety of the community.
Nine Entertainment newspapers reported on Thursday night that police were treating the incident as a suspected domestic violence attack.
Holland did not confirm any motive for the attack, but said that police in NSW are on "high alert" for shootings following the terror attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach in December.
The shooting on Thursday occurred two days after the federal parliament passed legislation for gun ownership reforms proposed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the wake of the Bondi attack, which was Australia's most deadly mass shooting since 1996.
The legislation introduced new laws to tighten restrictions on the import of firearms, parts and ammunition, stricter and more frequent background checks for gun licenses, and established a national firearms buyback scheme that will allow Australians to surrender firearms for financial compensation.
Albanese said on Wednesday that Australians were safer because of the new laws.
The state parliament of NSW separately passed legislation in December that capped the number of firearms an individual can legally own at four and restricted ownership of certain high-powered firearms to farmers. ■