7 people have been found dead in Australia's Margaret River wine-growing region

Seven people have been found dead in a rural town in Australia's Margaret River wine-growing region, police said on Friday.

A MOTHER and her four children have emerged as the victims of a mass shooting at a home near Margaret River on Western Australia’s south coast

The bodies of four children and three adults were found at or near a property in Osmington near the southwestern tip of Australia, Western Australia's Commissioner of Police Chris Dawson told a news conference.

Dawson said firearms were found at the scene. He said there appeared to be gunshot wounds. “Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident in Osmington, 20km northeast of Margaret River,” he



said.

“It is early in this investigation. Based on what we do know, this is clearly a tragedy.

“At about 5.15am this morning, police were called to a rural property on the outskirts of this property at Margaret River.”

They responded to the scene after a telephone call was made. Commissioner Dawson said the call was recorded but he was not prepared to release further information about what information was contained in it.

Gun crime in Australia fell sharply after strict controls were introduced in response to a mass shooting in 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania.

That prompted the government to buy back or confiscate a million firearms and make it harder to buy new ones.