Emergency services were called to reports of a woman, 32, being found seriously injured in Tarskavaig, Skye, shortly before 9am on Wednesday.
She has been taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment.
Officers were then called to the Teangue area of the island at 9.30am after a gun was fired.
Emergency services attended, but a 47-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police subsequently attended at a property in the Dornie area in Wester Ross after further gunshots were heard.
A man was found with serious injuries and has been taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness and a woman, whose condition is not known, was taken to Broadford Hospital.
The incident took place in Tarskavaig, Skye
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A 39-year-old man has since been arrested in connection with the three incidents, which police believe are linked.
The suspect has also been taken to Raigmore Hospital.
Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch described the news as “one of the worst days that I can recall in the history of Skye and Lochalsh.”
Chief Superintendent Conrad Trickett, local policing commander for Highlands and Islands Division, said there will be a significant police presence in the area over the coming days, adding: “We will be working with partners to provide support to the local community.
“I would like to reassure people that we are treating these incidents as contained with no wider threat to the public.
”He asked any members of the public who believe they may have any information which could help police enquiries to call 101, quoting reference 0713 of 10 August, 2022."
A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed four people were taken to hospital following the spate of incidents.
The rescue operation saw multiple ambulances, air ambulances and special rapid retrieval emergency teams, which are only summoned for incidents in rural locations when people are in critical need of medical attention.