A police officer has been shot during a search for Malcolm Naden, one of the state's most wanted criminals.
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The officer, who is part of a "specialist unit" according to a police spokeswoman, was shot in the shoulder and is in a stable condition at John Hunter Hospital.
The search for Naden was taking place in the Nowendoc area, east of Tamworth.
Naden, 37, an abattoir worker and alleged murderer has evaded police since 2005.
Six years ago a reported sighting of Naden in Taronga Western Plains Zoo saw 60 police and a helicopter descend on facility but Naden evaded authorities.
Four years later, with sightings in between, police reportedly found his fingerprints in the one cop town of Bellbrook 50kms west of Kempsey.
Last year reports came through that Naden might be hiding in the rugged Barrington Tops, part of the Hunter Valley.
So dense is bushland in the Barrington Tops that the wreckage of a Cessna aircraft, which crashed there in 1981, has never been found.
NSW Police Force Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Acting Deputy Commissioner David Hudson will brief the media on the search for Mr Naden in the Nowendoc area, east of Tamworth.
Information about the media conference will be in the Daily Liberal tomorrow.