An Indigenous man is in a critical condition in hospital after being shot by police during an incident south of Darwin on Tuesday morning.
Police said the incident took place around 9am on Tuesday in the Palmerston suburb of Gray and paramedics transported the man to Royal Darwin Hospital.
"Police members were confronted by a man and during the incident an officer discharged their firearm," NT Police said in a statement.
"The police officers involved were not physically injured in the incident."
Police say a critical incident has been declared and an investigation commenced.
An NT Health spokesman earlier said the injured man was 32 but NT Police said it could not confirm the man's age until next of kin had been notified.
NT Police Assistant Commissioner Michael White said officers were responding to a call-out in a park on Priest Circuit where they found a man allegedly armed with a weapon.
'"They called upon that person to drop the weapon, and unfortunately a number of shots were fired by police," he said.
Commissioner White said the man who was shot was undergoing surgery and police had yet to confirm the man's identity.
He would not confirm the type of weapon allegedly used and said that question would form part of police investigations.
Commissioner White said the shooting came after a separate incident at the same scene earlier on Tuesday, in which another person was injured and also transported to hospital for further treatment.
"Police were initially responding to a report earlier in the morning about a domestic violence incident and it's unclear at this stage whether that was part of this event or something separate," he said.
Commissioner White said "a number" of shots were fired during the incident but was unable to confirm how many.
Witnesses heard 'multiple shots' in suburban Palmerston
A woman who lives on Pelorus St, less than 100 metres from a cordoned crime scene, told the ABC she heard multiple sounds which appeared to be gunshots shortly after 8.30am Tuesday morning.
"I heard a few gunshots that sounded enclosed," the witness, who asked not to be named, said.
"It was one sound, but multiple shots."
She said the sounds were "real quick" in succession and police were on the scene within five minutes.
Gloria Barbeler's house faces part of the crime scene.
She also reported hearing gunshots.
"I said to Michael, that's my husband: 'Michael that's a gun, gunshots, four times'," Mrs Barbeller said.
"I didn't hear any yelling or shouting or anything, just gun.
"It's scary."
Pavalena Nichaloff, who lives nearby, was in the kitchen making breakfast for her young family when she heard the gunshots.
Ms Nichaloff said although crime in the area had grown worse over the last few months, she'd never experienced anything like this so close to home.
"I've never heard anything like that here," she said.
"Our gate is always locked, always, and our doors."
Northern Territory Police Association president Paul McCue said representatives were on the ground this morning assisting members.
Mr McCue said he wasn't sure of the rank of the officers involved.
In a post on Facebook, Gray Primary School said it was "aware" of the incident, but assured families students were safe.
"The police have advised us that all students are safe and we can go about our day as normal," the post read.
