Six people were killed in a gun battle in Queensland, Australia on Monday (12th), including two police officers, a rare occurrence in a nation where gun violence is unusual, foreign media reported.
A team of four Queensland Police officers that went in search of a missing person, on a request from News South Wales Police, had been ambushed at a house by a 3-member gang in the remote town of Wieambilla, 270km west of Brisbane. Their motive was not known.
A neighbour was also killed in the hail of gunfire that had met the police team, which was caught completely by surprise.
Police reinforcements arrived and after a lengthy siege shot dead the three attackers – two men and a woman. The slain police officers were named as constables Mathew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29. Another officer was wounded.