Shooting in Australian town leaves 3 dead and 1 wounded

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Three people were killed and another was wounded on Thursday in a shooting in a town in Australia’s New South Wales state, police said.

Emergency services were called to an address at Lake Cargelligo, a town of around 1,500 people, 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.

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

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.”

“The town is made of just two main streets. We can hear the sounds” of sirens, she told the newspaper.

The shooting comes on a National Day of Mourning as Australia remembers the 15 people shot dead in Sydney at a Hannukah celebration on Dec. 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.