Three people have died in a shooting at a cattle property near the north Queensland town of Collinsville, police have confirmed.
Police said they found three bodies and a crime scene in the remote rural location.
A man who was taken to Mackay base hospital earlier told police he and three other people had been shot.
He was found in a vehicle at Flagstone with a gunshot wound to the abdomen soon after police were notified about 9am on Thursday. The man was airlifted to the hospital in a critical condition where he was undergoing emergency surgery.
Police believe that the man had been with the three people who died, who they believe were members of his family.
Acting Superintendent Tom Armitt said: “We believe the male was able to extract himself from the area. When he was spoken to by police it was many many kilometres from the crime scene … he was fleeing from the scene …
“We are actively searching the area and commencing our investigations into what the circumstances were and how it came to be that these people had been shot.
“At this stage, we are at very, very early stages of this investigation. We do not know who is responsible.”
After speaking to the man, officers made an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act, allowing them to create an exclusion zone from which they could evacuate people.
The declaration made shortly before midday off Sutherland Road was later revoked and a new declaration was made for Shannonvale Road.
The declaration was updated “because originally when the male person spoke to us in a distressed state there was some confusion where the shooting had occurred”.
“We conducted searches ourselves based on the scant information that was provided and we had to update the location as to where the incident occurred based on the crime scene we located.”
So far, police say, they have not been able to obtain any other details from the injured man.
“We believe that the persons who has shot them may be in the area which is why we’re conducting our own searches at this present time,” Armitt said.
He added that he did not know whether the shooter had left by foot or car, and could not confirm what sort of gun had been used.
The exclusion zone would be in place “as long as we need to do our job at the scene. Once we’ve established … that the danger is no longer present for us we will rescind the PSVA but then we’ll start our crime scene examination so we’ll use other legislation.”
The search area was “extensive at this present point”, he said.
Earlier, authorities reported that a man had been found with a gunshot wound, and an RACQ CQ Rescue helicopter had taken him to hospital.
“One male has been located some distance from the property and is currently being treated for a gunshot wound,” police said on Twitter. “Police are currently conducting emergency operations in the area and requesting members of the public and aircraft to not attend the location.”
Update: An earlier declaration made off Sutherland Road under the Public Safety Preservation Act has been revoked and a new declaration established on Shannonvale Road. https://t.co/UIkye6s8pS pic.twitter.com/jtiypDQ7ed
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) August 4, 2022
A Queensland ambulance spokesperson said the service had received a call reporting the shooting at 8.54am.
Police described the location as near Collinsville, though initial reports placed the shooting at Bogie, a tiny rural locality.
One Collinsville local described Bogie as a bridge and “a few farms” on a dirt road to Bowen.
Guardian Australia understands the location of the shooting was remote and there were logistical difficulties for police in getting there and getting radio transmissions back.
Joe Hinchliffe contributed to this report
