A remote outpost has become the focus of a large-scale police operation to track down a man accused of killing three people in a shooting rampage.
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Officers descended on the region surrounding Mount Hope, a small former mining town in central NSW, on Sunday after a potential sighting of alleged triple murderer Julian Ingram.
The 37-year-old council worker has been on the run since he allegedly shot and killed three people, including his pregnant former partner Sophie Quinn, in Lake Cargelligo on Thursday afternoon.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland said members of the public had come forward with information overnight, triggering searches of multiple properties in the Mount Hope region early on Sunday.
"Obviously, with an armed offender in that area, we are asking members of the public to exercise extreme caution," he told reporters.
Mount Hope is about 90km northwest of Lake Cargelligo, an isolated town with a population of about 1400 people.
The manhunt area continues to expand as police search for the experienced bushman.
The region is home to large farms, some spanning 40,000 hectares, leaving police to search numerous possible hideouts.
"The farms are extraordinarily large in size ... that's what's making search areas difficult," Mr Holland said.
"You've got open paddocks, you've got scrubland, you've got bushland, we've got farm sheds and everything else - we are doing our best to get police to those locations with multiple numbers and clear those locations."
As the search approaches a fourth day, police did not rule out the possibility that locals had aided the fugitive's escape, although they didn't believe he was travelling in company.
His vehicle has not been spotted on point-to-point traffic cameras on major highways, leading police to believe he remained in the area.
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.
Police allege the shootings are linked to domestic violence.
Ingram, a gardener for the local council, was last seen driving out of town in a Ford Ranger ute with NSW registration DM-07-GZ.
He has a long criminal history and was on bail after being charged with domestic violence offences in November.
Ingram was released on strict conditions after an assessment deemed him low risk because he had not committed any violent crimes in the last five years.
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Australian Associated Press
