A massive manhunt is continuing for a council worker accused of a shooting rampage as an isolated country town comes to grips with losing three locals.
NSW Police and army personnel are searching for Julian Ingram, who is accused of shooting three people, including pregnant woman Sophie Quinn, at Lake Cargelligo in western NSW on Thursday afternoon.
Police allege the shootings are linked to domestic violence.
Ms Quinn, 25, and her friend John Harris, 32, were killed when bullets were fired into a dark hatchback about 4.20pm on Bokhara St.
Soon after, Ms Quinn's aunt, Nerida Quinn, 50, was shot dead at a home on Walker St, a two-minute drive away.
A 19-year-old man was also shot at the home but survived and is in hospital in a serious but stable condition in Canberra Hospital, where he was well enough to speak to detectives.
Ingram, a 37-year-old gardener for the local council, was last seen driving out of town in a work ute after the shootings and remained on the run on Friday night.
About 100 police officers were working alongside army personnel to search the region.
A helicopter was seen flying low over farmland between Lake Cargelligo and Condobolin, to the east, on Friday afternoon.
Ingram, also known as Julian Pierpoint, had a long criminal history and was on bail after being charged with domestic violence offences in November, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland said.
Police freed Ingram on strict conditions after an assessment deemed him low risk because he had not committed any violent crimes in the last five years.
A magistrate confirmed bail when Ingram appeared at Lake Cargelligo Local Court on December 3 and an interim apprehended domestic violence order was made on Ms Quinn's behalf.
Police would investigate how Ingram, who never held a gun licence, was allegedly able to access a weapon.
Lachlan Shire Council mayor John Medcalf said there had never been such a serious crime in the town of 1100.
It was particularly shocking in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach shooting on December 14, he said.
"You don't think of something like this happening out in a community like this," Mr Medcalf told reporters on Friday.
Independent state MP Roy Butler said "serious questions" remained about how a man with a long criminal history and no gun licence could get a weapon.
Federal MP Jamie Chaffey said the shootings had "rocked" the people of Lake Cargelligo because the small town was their safe place.
"There's a lot more investigation to go, but it appears that ... at the core of this is domestic violence," Mr Chaffey said.
"We're seeing far too many women, particularly in regional communities ... that are losing their lives to domestic violence and it needs to be stamped out."
Ingram was last seen in a council-marked Ford Ranger ute with NSW registration DM-07-GZ.
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