Fugitive Dezi Freeman, the man allegedly responsible for the shooting deaths of two police officers in Porepunkah last August, has been killed after a seven-month manhunt in rural Victoria. The Victoria police chief commissioner, Mike Bush, confirmed a man was fatally shot by police shortly after 8.30am on Monday, following an hours-long standoff at a property in Thologolong in the state's north-east.
Bush would not confirm the man was Freeman but said police believed it was and that the shooting concluded Operation Summit, the investigation into Freeman's actions. He also said it brought closure to the families of the slain officers. 'Whilst it's being reported that person is Desmond Freeman, we have to run through a very formal identification process,' Bush said.
Speaking at Thologolong, Bush said Freeman left the building he was staying in with something similar to a blanket cloaking his shoulders, before he 'presented' a gun to police. Multiple officers from the special operations group then fired on Freeman. 'The deceased was given every opportunity to resolve this peacefully, and did not take that option,' Bush said.
Police arrived at the property about 5.30am, but had been surveilling it for some hours beforehand. Freeman was alone on the rural property, in what Bush described as 'a cross between a [shipping] container and a very long caravan'. Police are investigating whether Freeman was aided while on the run.
Freeman, a 56-year-old with a history of association with pseudolaw or 'sovereign citizen' ideology, allegedly shot and killed Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, and injured a third officer at a property in Porepunkah on 26 August. He then fled into the bush heavily armed, sparking a high-profile manhunt.
Bush said the search for Freeman was the 'most considerable investment in police resources we have ever seen', involving officers from every Australian state and territory and New Zealand. The investigation into the shooting will be subject to a professional standards command review and a coroner's hearing.
