Six people, including two police officers, have been fatally shot after a suspected ambush at a remote Australian property.
Police said they had been searching for a missing person in Wieambilla – 270km (168 miles) west of Brisbane, Queensland – when they were fired upon.
After a lengthy siege, three suspects were fatally shot by police. A motive remains unclear, authorities said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it a “heartbreaking day” for Australia.
Four police officers – who are armed in Australia – initially went to the property on Monday afternoon local time, after a request from New South Wales police.
Constables Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, were shot dead as they approached the property. Another officer suffered a “bullet graze” and the fourth escaped without physical injury, police said.
A neighbour, 58-year-old Alan Dare, was killed by the suspects after going to the property to investigate.
The siege involved “many weapons” and continued for hours, before the suspects – two men and a woman – were shot by specially trained officers, authorities said.
One was identified as Nathaniel Train, 46, a former school principal and the missing person police had been sent to check on.
The others were his brother Gareth Train, 47, and Gareth’s wife Stacey Train, 45, who co-owned the property.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll described the attack as an “unimaginable tragedy” and the force’s largest loss of life in a single incident in many years.
“Those officers did not stand a chance. The fact that two got out alive is a miracle,” she said after visiting the scene on Tuesday.
The uninjured officer – a rookie sworn in only weeks ago – managed to find cover and call for help.
The suspects had then tried to draw her out by lighting a fire, said Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers.
“She did not know whether she was going to be shot, or [if] she was going to burnt alive,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
“I do know she was sending messages to loved ones, saying she was at a point where she thought it was her time. What was going through her mind, one cannot comprehend.”
Specialist police later arrived and took over the operation.
