A system and method is provided for determining the three dimensional location of an acoustic event using a system of five or more sound sensing elements. The sensing elements are positioned at substantially the same elevation and in spatially distributed locations with respect to the acoustic event. The sensing elements generate notification signals indicating occurrence of the acoustic event. A central processor receives the notification signals, associates the locations of each of the sensing elements with the time at which each sensing element sensed the sound, determines the speed of sound for the medium, and calculates a three dimensional location for the acoustic event using a linear error minimization algorithm. A system of six or more sensing elements enables the processor further to discriminate between near simultaneous acoustic events.