Two police officers have been killed and a third has been injured in a shooting on a rural property in north-east Victoria.
It has been reported that a police officer was shot in the thigh while executing a warrant related to historical sexual abuse allegations at a residence in Porepunkah, located in Victoria’s alpine region, about 300 kilometers from Melbourne.
Two other officers, who were initially unaccounted for, have died.
Police officers from the Special Operations Group have headed to the property, according to the police union.
“The Police Association Victoria is aware of a critical situation that has occurred in northeastern Victoria, affecting our members,” a spokesperson stated.
“We have sent critical incident support teams to the area to assist and support the impacted members, their families and colleagues.”
An urgent call for assistance was made from the property around 10.55am.
Locals have been asked to stay indoors as the incident unfolds.
“Police are currently at a property in Porepunkah,” Victoria Police said in a statement.
“This is still an active incident and we will provide more information when it’s operationally safe to do so.
“We ask people to avoid the area.”
Porepunkah Primary School has been put into lockdown.
The principal told The Age the children were all fine and watching movies to pass the time.
One local told 9news.com.au Porepunkah is a “pretty quiet community”.
He said several police cars were seen heading across the town.
Nobody is in custody yet.
In an updated statement, Wangaratta Police said police are still responding to an “active incident” at a property in Porepunkah.
The public is being asked to avoid the area.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “very concerned” for the police officers involved.
“Our thoughts are with the police for the dedication they show every single day. The men and women who wear the police uniform take risks daily,” the Prime Minister mentioned to the media in Canberra.
“The Victorian Police Commissioner will be providing updates during the afternoon as more facts that are able to be released become clear.”
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw joined Albanese and said there were “grave fears” for the officers as the incident unfolds.
“On behalf of the police community, both in Australia and abroad, our thoughts and prayers are with Victoria Police right now,” Kershaw expressed.
“We hope that they are all safe, although we are receiving reports expressing serious concerns for some of these officers, and our hearts go out to the community,” he added.
Alpine Shire Council, the local council servicing Porepunkah, said in a statement it was closing all council facilities “immediately”.
“This includes all Transfer Stations, Libraries, Visitor Information Centres, and Depots throughout the Shire, as well as the Council’s Customer Service Centre in Bright and the Bright Sports Centre,” the statement indicated.
“Tonight’s Ordinary Council Meeting has also been postponed, and will be rescheduled for two weeks’ time.
“Further details will be provided at a later date. We thank you for your patience and understanding. We’ll update the community when our services resume.”
Victoria’s Opposition Leader Brad Battin told reporters at parliament that events like this “impact each and every police officer across Victoria and across Australia”.
“We’re seeing news, tragic news is happening up in the north of Victoria, and we want to send our thoughts and our strength out to Victoria police members who are hearing some of the news coming through at the moment,” Battin said.
“We know that when Victoria police members get out of bed every day and go to work, they go to work with risk.
“Each and every day, Victoria police members go out in the face of danger.
“Each and every day they know the risks, and today, we want to send out our thanks to all of them, but more importantly, our thoughts to everyone as events unfold up in the north.”
Porepunkah is located on the Great Alpine Road, at the foot of Mount Buffalo.
The remoteness of the town means police resources are currently limited.
It has a population of 1024, according to the 2021 Census.
The nearest town, Bright, is located 5km away.
