2 Australian police gunned down while serving warrant

International

HUNDREDS of police were deployed to hunt down a “heavily armed” man accused of fatally shooting two Australian police officers and injuring another in an ambush at a property in a small rural town in Victoria state.

In a report by BBC, the attack happened while police officers were serving an arrest warrant.

Police said the suspect escaped into the bush alone and after the shooting.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said at least 10 officers had gone to the property when they were fired upon by a heavily armed offender.

Bush said a 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable were "murdered in cold blood."

A third officer was seriously injured. He was airlifted to hospital.

The state police chief said all the available resources were being used in the manhunt for a "dangerous" suspect, and urged locals to stay indoors.

"[Our] priority is to arrest him and bring safety and security to this community," the officer said in the report.

The suspect was believed to have been on his own at the time of the shooting, and that police "are still looking to locate his partner and two children, but he was not seen to head into the bush with them.”