Three killed in Adelaide in early morning shootout

A man was eventually taken into custody. Photo / Thinkstock

Three people were killed and another three injured yesterday in a shootout and siege in an Adelaide suburb.

A man was arrested after an eight-hour drama that began when neighbours of a house in Montacute Rd, in the northeastern blue-collar suburb of Hectorville, were woken by gunshots at about 2.30am.

"We just heard some severe gunshots and obviously a lot of commotion, police cars and all the rest of it and then helicopters," one neighbour said.

Another, Maree Rumeliotis, said she was woken by two loud bangs.

"You expect to hear about this in big cities like Sydney but when it's close to home it touches your heart more," she said.

"You think about your family and your children."

As police arrived, the gunman fled from one house to the next-door property and opened fire.

In the first house police later found the bodies of a woman and two men.

A teenage boy was also seriously injured.

Police returned fire, but one officer was shot in the face and was yesterday in a stable condition at Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Neighbouring homes were evacuated as armed police closed surrounding streets and sealed off the property.

Throughout the morning police negotiators spoke to the man, who for hours refused to surrender and leave the house.

He told police he was prepared to kill, but was taken into custody at about midday.