Three people have been confirmed dead and a man is fighting for life as police continue the hunt for shooting suspects in North Queensland.
The bodies of the three victims were located at a property on Shannonvale Rd in the remote town of Bogie, where the shooting is believed to have occurred.
The four victims are believed to be family members.
Mackay District Superintendent Tom Armitt said police were in the "very, very early stages" of the investigation, but confirmed that the shooter or shooters were still on the run.
"We believe that the persons who has shot them may be still in the area, which is why we are conducting our own searches at this current time," he said.
Police said they could not confirm any motives for the shooting and whether the shooter or shooters were still armed.
However, reports from The Courier-Mail suggest the incident was linked to a property dispute.
Emergency crews were called to a property in Bogie – a small outback mining town in the Whitsundays near Collinsville – at 8.45am on Thursday.
Armitt said a man undergoing emergency surgery after being shot in the stomach had not given further details as to who the shooter was.
Police said the victim, who is in his 30s, was found in an "extremely critical situation" and was spoken to by police "many many kilometres from the scene".
"He was fleeing from the scene," Armitt said.
Queensland Police first received reports that multiple people had been injured near Collinsville, west of Airlie Beach, about 9am.
After finding the injured man in a vehicle at Flagstone, an emergency declaration was made at 11.30am under the Public Safety Preservation Act, with boundaries encompassing Sutherland Rd, Normanby Rd, Mount Compton Rd and Starvation Creek.
Police are urging members of the public to avoid the area as the incident is still unfolding.
Opal Ridge Motel staff member Elly Colls told The Guardian she was alerted to the incident at 11am.
She said when she received the call from another local she thought she should lock up her house as she didn't think they had found the shooter.
It is understood the shooting happened at a remote location and there are issues getting there.
Bogie's population was 207 people, according to the latest census data.
Locals from Bowen and Collinsville described the alleged incident as "unusual" and "strange" for the usually quiet area.
"There haven't been many shootings there (Bogie) before … it's very unusual," a business owner in Collinsville said.
Queensland Ambulance Service reportedly sent eight crews to the scene.
In a now deleted tweet, RACQ CQ Rescue helicopter said it was "responding to reports of four people injured in an alleged shooting west of Collinsville".
An RACQ spokesperson also told Yahoo News Australia "early accounts are three in the paddock and one in the home".