Canberra, Feb. 4 -- A man has been hospitalised 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...