Federal MPs have paid tribute to two Queensland police officers and a bystander shot dead in an ambush in Queensland’s Darling Downs.
Four officers went to a rural property at Wieambilla on Monday to investigate reports of a missing person and were met with gunfire.
Two were killed at the scene, as was a neighbour who responded to the disturbance.
The three attackers, two men and a woman, were shot by police on Monday night following a siege.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia would mourn along with the families of those killed in the line of duty.
“Terrible scenes in Wieambilla and a heartbreaking day for the families and friends of the Queensland police officers who have lost their lives,” he said on Twitter.
“My condolences to all who are grieving.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, himself a Queensland police officer before entering politics, said it was a shocking incident.
“When you have a few police officers who are turning up to check an address, walking up the driveway and they’re gunned down in a cold-blooded style, that will send a shiver down the spine of any police officer attending any job today,” he told Nine’s Today on Tuesday.
“Of course the police family is absolutely devastated, people will be scarred from the experience … it’s time for our community, for our country to come together around police and support them.”
Nationals leader David Littleproud, who grew up in the area where the incident occurred, said the community was numb following the shooting.
“Chinchilla and Tara are both quiet, peaceful country towns. The shocking event that unfolded yesterday is not what our community is,” he said.
“My thoughts are with the two brave police officers and the member of the public who lost their lives. The police community will be raw today and we grieve with them.”
Greens leader Adam Bandt said news of the shooting was horrific.
“It’s just a reminder of the risk and the danger that so many first responders put themselves into. You don’t want to be reminded of it in that way,” he told ABC TV.
– AAP
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