MELBOURNE, June 18 (Reuters) - A gunman was on the run in the Australian city of Melbourne during the morning rush hour on Monday after killing one person and wounding two, police said.

Eyewitness reports said the man had dragged a woman from a taxi and opened fire with a handgun when two men came to her assistance, and then fled on foot.

"There is a large police operation underway in the Melbourne CBD as we speak to try and apprehend the offender," Inspector Glenn Weir told local television as heavily armed police in body armour sealed off the area in the country's second-largest city.

"It certainly appears as though there was some verbal confrontation prior to the shooting between the male and the female, so it appears as though there was some relationship between those two people," Weir said.

The shooting occurred close to the city's tallest building, Rialto Towers, and panicked office workers during the morning rush hour.

The two wounded were rushed to hospital in a critical condition, while the person killed died at the scene.

Police advised workers to stay in buildings as a manhunt was launched across the city, with roads and buildings sealed off and police helicopters circling overhead.

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