NSW police believe assistance has been provided ‘from people that he knows in community’ since last week’s shooting

Police are “confident” triple murder suspect Julian Ingram is still alive and believe he has been receiving help from people he knows in the area, a week after three people were shot dead in a small New South Wales town.

The NSW police assistant commissioner, Andrew Holland, said investigators were confident Ingram, 37, may have been helped by “people that he knows in community given the temperatures” of more than 40C recorded in the area.

“He has to have access to food and water,” Holland told reporters on Thursday, before adding that it may be possible that Ingram had stored such supplies in the area.

Ingram, also known as Julian Pierpoint, is suspected of shooting dead his pregnant former partner, her new boyfriend, and her aunt last Thursday in Lake Cargelligo, about 450km west of Sydney. He was later seen leaving the town in a white single cab Ford Ranger.

He was on bail in relation to domestic violence allegations made by his former partner, Sophie Quinn, at the time of the shootings.

A witness has reported seeing Ingram in Mount Hope, about 70km from Lake Cargelligo, while police said they were following leads in other parts of the region.

Speaking in Lake Cargelligo, the NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said the search was being undertaken in “extraordinary conditions”.

“This is the fifth day of over 40-degree temperatures, yet our police have been unwavering,” Lanyon said.

“What we have seen at Lake Cargelligo is a terrible tragedy that should not occur. Domestic and family violence remains a scourge on our community.”

Holland said he believed Ingram, a brushcutter who worked for the local council, was still alive because of the “experience he has as a local in the area”.

“He’s worked for the council, worked in those areas out towards Mount Hope in that area,” he said.

“He is aware of where the water sources are, and hidey-holes such as caves. We have to systematically work through these locations.”

Some of the properties in the Mount Hope area – where the reported sighting was made – are larger than 400,000 hectares.

Quinn, 25, was pregnant with a son when she was shot in a car on Bokhara Street about 4.20pm on Thursday. Her partner, John Harris, was in the car with her and was also killed.

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Police were then called to reports of another shooting in nearby Walker Street, and found Nerida Quinn, 50, and Kaleb Macqueen, 19, shot in the driveway. Quinn, an aunt of Sophie, died at the scene while Macqueen was injured.

Lanyon told reporters on Thursday that Ingram’s bail conditions would form part of the police investigation.

He said that last year alone, police charged more than 32,000 people with domestic and family violence assaults.

“I want to make sure that not only are you safe, but you feel safe. So you will continue to see a significant policing presence until such time as we put Mr Ingram before the court,” he said.