A small Australian town was thrown into a state of high alert this week as heavily armed federal police conducted a dramatic dawn raid, instantly reigniting fears that alleged double cop killer Dezi Freeman could be in the area.
Dawn Raid Sends Shockwaves Through Mount Egerton
Residents of Mount Egerton, a town approximately 97km north-west of Melbourne, were woken in the early hours of Wednesday morning to the sight of camouflaged officers, armed with machine guns and heavy-duty door-rams, filing past a shop on the main street. The operation, captured on CCTV around 4am, was followed by loud bangs that locals described as sounding like gunfire.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) later confirmed it had executed a search warrant on a regional property in the town. A spokesperson stated, 'There is no threat to community safety. Further information will be provided at an appropriate time.' Victoria Police, whose own Special Operations Group typically handles such operations, directed enquiries to the AFP, revealing their officers were only present to assist with a 'driving warrant'.
The Elusive Fugitive and a Three-Month Manhunt
The mysterious raid immediately led the community to draw connections to the ongoing and extensive hunt for Dezi Freeman, who has now been on the run for exactly three months. Freeman vanished on August 26 after he allegedly shot and killed police officers Vadim de Waart-Hottart and Neal Thompson and wounded a third.
The officers were among a team of ten executing a search warrant at Freeman's property in Porepunkah, in Victoria's high country, when the situation erupted into a deadly shootout around 10.30am. The alleged murders triggered a massive police search of the bushland surrounding Freeman's wilderness retreat near Mount Buffalo.
However, the investigation has been fraught with difficulty. Last month, a source revealed to Daily Mail that police command believed Freeman had somehow evaded the initial dragnet and escaped the state. 'He got away. The belief is he somehow escaped and is now holed up safely across the border,' the source claimed.
Mounting Pressure and Enduring Mystery
Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush recently returned to the region, outlining the three grim possibilities facing investigators: Freeman is still in the area and being hidden by locals, he is dead, or he has fled elsewhere. 'We're still no clearer as to whether he's dead or alive,' he admitted.
The failure to locate Freeman has been a public relations challenge for the police force. Just weeks ago, officers conducted 'firearms testing' in the remote region where Freeman disappeared, hoping to gather new evidence from reports of a gunshot heard at 11.45am on the day of the shootings.
Meanwhile, rumours about Freeman's fate continue to circulate. Those familiar with his mindset suggest he was prepared for a violent standoff, with one contact describing him as 'Rambo, ten times over'. It is also reported that he told his wife, Mali, to flee with their young child immediately after the shootout, and that he had previously stated he would rather die than be arrested.
As news agencies returned to the alpine region to mark the three-month milestone of the manhunt, the recent AFP raid has underscored the relentless and unresolved nature of this high-stakes police operation. The community of Mount Egerton, and indeed the nation, waits for answers.
