One man is dead and two others are in hospital following a triple-shooting in a rural area east of Saint John Saturday night.

Investigators spent Sunday using service dogs to search wooded areas along a highway that runs between two homes in Baxters Corner.

The homes are separated by roughly one kilometre.

“On November 10, shortly before 6 p.m., several 911 calls were received regarding shots fired in Baxters Corner,” confirms RCMP Cpl. Chantal Farrah.

Three men were discovered in a home on Raymond Street. Police say a 31-year-old man from Baxters Corner died shortly afterward.

Two other men were also shot but are expected to survive. Investigators say there were other people in the home at the time of the shooting but they were not injured.

Police arrested a 35-year-old Baxters Corner man without incident shortly after the shooting, but he was released without charges Monday.

Investigators initially believed the shooting took place in the Raymond Street home, but now they have switched their focus to another home about one kilometre away.

“Investigators have now determined that the shooting happened at a location on Route 820 and not at a residence on Raymond Street,” says Farrah.

They say it appears the man who was arrested and then released had been assaulted earlier Saturday by two men in the Saint John area.

A few hours later, police say a group of armed men - including the men suspected of committing the earlier assault -  arrived at the home and it was then that the shooting began.

Neighbours were surprised to hear of an outbreak of violence in their normally-quiet community.

“It’s a very quiet area. That’s why I moved out of the city, out here because I just prefer the country life,” says Jennifer Moore. “For the most part, there’s not much going on out here.”

Police are still investigating the incident and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

“If anybody from the public heard or saw anything that might be related to this incident, please don’t keep that information to yourself,” says Farrah. “Provide that information directly to the RCMP.”

Police say the people involved in the incident knew each other and that the shooting was not a random incident.

They have not ruled out charges in the case, but for now, they say the man they first arrested poses no danger to the public.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron