CANBERRA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A man has been hospitalized in a critical condition after being shot in an apparent targeted attack in northern Australia.

Police in the Northern Territory (NT) said on Tuesday that officers responded to reports of a shooting in the northern Darwin suburb of Coconut Grove just after 7 p.m. local time on Monday.

Ambulance crews attended the scene and treated a 23-year-old man who had been shot in the leg. He was transported to a local hospital, where he remained in critical condition, awaiting surgery on Tuesday morning.

A spokesperson for the ambulance service told News Corp Australia newspapers that the man was shot with a shotgun and had suffered pellet injuries to both legs.

NT Police officers arrested two men, aged 19 and 22, and a 22-year-old woman over the incident at about 4 a.m. local time on Tuesday in the town of Katherine, 270 kilometers southeast of Darwin.

Duty Superintendent Tanya Mace told reporters that police believe the alleged offenders were known to the victim.

"We believe this was a targeted attack and at no time were any members of the public at risk," she said.

Witnesses told News Corp that the attackers exited a vehicle before shooting the man.

Mace said that the forensics team would process the scene as well as the vehicle that the alleged offenders were traveling in at the time of their arrest. Enditem

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