Australia sees its worst mass killing in 2 decades

Seven people were discovered dead on Friday in a mass murder in Australia, according to The Associated Press.

What are the details?

All seven people were part of the same family, and a murder-suicide has not yet been ruled out.

"Police are currently responding to what I can only describe as a horrific incident," Chris Dawson, Western Australia’s Commissioner of Police, told reporters. "We have no information to raise concern about wider public safety issues at this point in time."

"This devastating tragedy will no doubt have a lasting impact on the families concerned, the whole community and, in particular, the local communities in our southwest," he added.

Four children were among those killed, which took place at the family's home in Osmington, which is south of Perth and on the southwestern tip of the country.

The three adults, according to reports, were a mother and two grandparents.

Two adult victims were found outside the residence, and the rest of the victims were inside the home.

"The bodies of two adults were located outside [and] five bodies were located inside a building on the rural property," Dawson said, according to the BBC. "It appears that gunshot wounds are there, but I don't want to go further than that."

Dawson went on to describe the scene as a "significant tragedy."

Is there a suspect?

Dawson would not confirm or deny reports of a murder-suicide, but noted that they were not seeking a suspect in the mass killing.

According to the AP, this could be the worst mass killing that Australia has seen in 22 years.

The last mass killing of such a caliber occurred in 1996 when a lone killed massacred 35 people and injured 18 more in Port Arthur, Tasmania.

Much tougher gun laws were enacted as a result of the horrific 1996 mass killing, as well as a near-ban on automatic and semiautomatic weapons.

Additionally, the Australian government bought back or confiscated about 1 million firearms.