Police have launched a manhunt for a suspected shooter who remained at large a day after shooting dead three people, including a pregnant former partner, in remote New South Wales, Australia.
Police said the suspected shooter, identified on Friday as Julian “Hoolio” Ingram, or Julian Pierpoint, was out on bail after being arrested on a domestic violence related charge. He was believed to be on the run in a moving vehicle, they said.
The man allegedly shot at four people in Bokhara Street, Lake Cargelligo, killing three and leaving one seriously injured when police responded to reports of a shooting at about 4.20pm on Thursday. According to local media reports, the woman who was shot dead was 25-year-old Sophie Quinn, a former partner of Mr Ingram who was about seven months pregnant. According to The Age, two other people – John Harris, 32, and Nerida Quinn, 50 – were also killed in the attack. Kaleb Macqueen, 19, remains in a serious condition.
Police described the 37-year-old man as “armed and dangerous”, urging residents of the Lake Cargelligo community to stay indoors.
“The man is described as being Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander appearance, about 165cm-170cm tall, of a medium build with short dark hair and brown eyes,” police said.
“He was last seen driving a Ford Ranger utility with NSW registration DM-07-GZ described as having council signage, a metal tray back, high visibility markings on the side and an emergency light bar on the roof,” they said, urging people to inform the police if they spot him.
"The [alleged] offender was on police bail initially, three days later he went before the court, and the court saw fit to continue the police bail," assistant commissioner of the Western Region Command, Andrew Holland, told the media.
According to the police and court documents, the man was arrested last year over domestic violence-related charges. He was released on bail on 30 November, on condition of reporting daily to the Lake Cargelligo police station.
The order that barred him from going within 100m of Quinn, her home or her workplace, was due to be reviewed in court on 3 February.
Mr Holland was quoted as saying by 9News, Mr Ingram had not previously breached the bail conditions prior to the alleged shooting, which he said was a domestic-violence-related incident.
"All the victims appear to be related to the offender," he said.
Mr Holland, said: "Our last sighting was on a road out of Lake Congelligo, hence our concerns for making sure the public is safe at all times.
"We are concerned about the local villages. We have concerns when he has gone to those villages before."
He added that Mr Ingram's knowledge of the local area could make him difficult to find.
He said Mr Ingram did not have a firearms licence. "[But] he has access to firearms, which are unknown, and that will form part of the investigation as well," he said.
The shooting comes a month after two gunmen opened fire at an event on Bondi Beach celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, killing 15 people in Australia's worst mass shooting in nearly three decades.
In response to the shooting, Australia's parliament passed new laws on Tuesday enabling a national gun buyback scheme and tougher background checks for firearm licences.
New South Wales, which has the highest number of firearms of any Australian state, has also introduced laws limiting individuals to owning no more than four guns and requiring licence holders to be members of a gun club.
Additional reporting by agencies
