Key Points

A police statement said that emergency services were called to reports of a car and truck colliding in the suburb of Epping, 20 km north of central Melbourne, around 9:30 pm on Monday, Xinhua News Agency reported.

One of the occupants of the car, a 23-year-old male, was found to have serious injuries consistent with gunshot wounds and was taken to hospital.

A second occupant, an 18-year-old female, was also taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries consistent with the collision.

The driver of the truck was not injured. Police said that investigators do not believe that the truck driver had any involvement in the shooting.

Officers attending the scene found a third vehicle on fire a short distance away from the crash site.

A significant crime scene has been established, police said, and investigators are working to determine if the car fire was linked to the shooting and subsequent collision.

Earlier on Friday, in a separate incident, two police officers have been killed and a third has been injured in a shooting in southeast Australia, local media reported.

The three officers were at the rural property in the town of Porepunkah, 210 km northeast of Melbourne in the Alpine region of the state of Victoria, on Tuesday morning to execute a warrant related to historical sexual abuse allegations when they were ambushed and shot by a gunman.

Two police officers, who Victoria Police initially said were unaccounted for following the attack, were killed and the third was airlifted to hospital with serious lower body injuries, according to ABC News.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said during a press conference in Canberra prior to the fatalities being reported that he was "very concerned" for the police officers involved in the incident.

"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," he said.

- IANS