Police say a sighting of Julian Ingram, who is suspected of murdering three people in remote NSW, has been reported about 70km north of where the shootings occurred.

The unconfirmed sighting was made early on Sunday morning at Mount Hope in the NSW central west.

Ingram, 37, also known as Julian Pierpoint, is suspected of shooting dead his pregnant former partner, her new boyfriend, and her aunt on Thursday afternoon in Lake Cargelligo, before fleeing the town.

The reported sighting is the first since the shooting, and has resulted in tactical police with air support deploying en masse to the vast region and searching local properties.

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Some of the properties in the Mount Hope area are larger than 400,000 hectares, NSW assistant commissioner Andrew Holland said – the size of metropolitan Sydney.

Ingram, a brushcutter who worked for the local council, knows of brushcutting camps in the area which contained food, Holland confirmed, though the reported sighting was not in that exact part of Mount Hope.

Holland declined to say whether Ingram was reportedly sighted in a vehicle or on foot.

“There have been public witnesses who have identified what they believe to be the offender, and it’s a possible sighting, there is no confirmation that it is the offender, but obviously we’re acting on the fact that it could well be him,” Holland said on Sunday.

“It’s an area he has frequented before … and he has very good knowledge of the area.

“We think he is on his own at this present time … but we can’t rule out he’s being assisted by locals.”

Ingram’s former partner, Sophie Quinn, 25, who was pregnant with a son, 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 shot and killed.

Police were then called to Walker Street after reports of another shooting and found Nerida Quinn, 50, and Kaleb Macqueen, 19, shot in the driveway. Quinn, an aunt of Sophie, died at the scene while Macqueen is in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Ingram was on bail in relation to domestic violence allegations made by Sophie Quinn at the time of the shootings.

Police also clarified details of the ute Ingram was last seen driving, a white single cab Ford Ranger.

The last confirmed sighting of Ingram was made on Thursday as he drove north out of Lake Cargelligo, towards Mount Hope.

It was unclear whether Ingram had been moving at night, given high temperatures in the area, which are forecast to reach the mid to high 40s over the next week, but Holland said that “made sense”.

Holland said police were still confirming which firearms Ingram had, and how he obtained them. Police have previously said Ingram has never held a NSW firearms licence.

Holland said on Sunday that no threats had been reported to them from other members of the public in relation to Ingram, as members of Quinn’s family said they felt unsafe while he was still at large.

“We’re supporting the families involved, we’ll make sure those people feel safe,” Holland said.

“There are no threats from Mr Ingram towards any other person that we are aware of at this point.”

Holland said locals had been incredibly helpful to police, who continued to check in on properties and people linked to Ingram, but he warned against believing information posted on social media.

“Some of the posts that are going up on social media … are just ridiculous,” he said.

“We need to be talking about information that is fact, and if you have facts please contact the police.”