Three Dead in Shooting West of Sydney in Eastern Australia

SYDNEY:
Three people have died following a shooting west of Sydney in Australia’s eastern state of New South Wales (NSW) on Thursday afternoon.

The NSW Police Force said in a statement that emergency services were called to reports of a shooting in the small town of Lake Cargelligo, 450 km west of Sydney, around 4:40 pm local time on Thursday, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Police confirmed that three people, two women and a man, had died.

A second man has been taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.

A crime scene has been established and police have urged members of the public to avoid the area and local residents to stay indoors.

On January 18, police in Australia’s state of New South Wales (NSW) said that a man had been seriously injured after he was shot during a public place shooting in Sydney’s west overnight.

Police said that emergency services were called to a home in Lalor Park, a suburb of Sydney, at about 11.35 pm local time on Saturday, following reports of a public place shooting.

Officers were told unknown people had fired multiple gunshots into a home, hitting one resident before leaving the scene in a vehicle.

The resident, a 46-year-old man, was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics for a gunshot injury before being taken to the hospital in a stable condition.

On January 8, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia in the wake of the terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

Albanese announced at a press conference in Canberra that his government will establish a royal commission, the highest form of inquiry in Australia, which will be led by former High Court justice Virginia Bell and deliver a report by mid-December.

“I’ve taken the time to reflect, to meet with leaders in the Jewish community and most importantly, I’ve met with many of the families of victims and survivors of that horrific attack,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that the inquiry would investigate the nature and prevalence of antisemitism in Australia, make recommendations to law enforcement to tackle antisemitism, examine the circumstances surrounding the Bondi Beach attack, and make recommendations on strengthening social cohesion.

“I’ve repeatedly said that our government’s priority is to promote unity and social cohesion, and this is what Australia needs to heal, to learn, to come together in a spirit of national unity,” he said.

The alleged lone surviving gunman, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder, over the attack, which authorities allege was motivated by Islamic State ideology.