Australian police hunt for gunman who killed 2 officers and shot another in a rural town

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Two police officers were killed and another seriously wounded in a shooting Tuesday at a property in a rural part of Australia. The gunman remained at large as police scoured a vast remote area.

The shooting occurred in midmorning when 10 armed police officers tried to execute a search warrant at a property in Porepunkah, a town of just over 1,000 people in Victoria state 320 kilometers (200 miles) northeast of Melbourne.

The suspect killed a 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable, Victoria’s Chief Commissioner of Police Mike Bush told reporters at a news conference in the nearby city of Wangaratta.

The officers “were met by the offender and they were murdered in cold blood,” Bush said. The man fled alone, on foot and heavily armed into surrounding forest where hundreds of officers were still searching for him, the police chief said.

Bush would not divulge what the warrant related to and wouldn’t confirm the man’s name or believed motivations. Officers were also seeking the man’s wife and two children, whose whereabouts were unknown.

Another detective was shot and was undergoing surgery Tuesday night, Bush said. The man’s injuries were not life threatening.

Police urged residents to stay indoors and told the public not to travel to the area. Public buildings and the nearby airfield were closed. The local school of just over 100 students was in lockdown for hours before students were allowed to go home.

As darkness fell, the massive manhunt continued. Television reports showed helicopters and police dogs in the area.

Porepunkah, known for its vineyards and scenic vistas, is a gateway to Victoria’s alpine tourist region.

Members of Victoria’s police union were stricken by a “shocking and eerie feeling of dread," said Police Association Victoria Secretary Wayne Gatt.

“Police stations have fallen silent in Victoria when we were first notified.”

The last police officer to be shot and killed on duty in the country was in 2023 in South Australia state, according to the National Police Memorial website. In 2022, two officers were shot dead by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.

The three shooters, conspiracy theorists who hated the police, were shot and killed by officers after a six-hour siege in the region of Wieambilla.

Such episodes prompt national news coverage because shooting deaths in Australia are rare.

A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.