There are grave fears for two police officers believed to be missing at a property in rural north-east Victoria where another officer has been shot..
It is understood one officer was shot in the thigh while serving a warrant at a home in Porepunkah in Victoria’s alpine region, located around 300km from Melbourne, The Age reports.
Two other officers reportedly remain unaccounted for.
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Police officers from the Special Operations Group have headed to the property.
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.”
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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.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “very concerned” for the police officers involved.
“Our thoughts are with the police for the work they do, each and every day. The men and women who wear our uniform, wear the uniform of the police take risks each and every day,” the PM told 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.
“Just from the police blue family, the wider family across Australia, and overseas, our thoughts and prayers are with Victoria Police right now,” Kershaw said.
“And we hope that they are all safe and well, however, we’re hearing there are some grave concerns for some of those police officers and our hearts go out to the community.”
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 and Visitor Information Centres and Depots across the Shire, Council’s Customer Service Centre in Bright, and Bright Sports Centre,” the statement reads.
“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.
More to come.
