Dezi Freeman, the sovereign citizen who murdered two police officers and wounded a third in rural Victoria in August 2025, has been shot dead by police after a seven-month manhunt. The 39-year-old was killed on Monday morning at a rural property near Thologolong, about 100km from where he was last seen, following a three-hour standoff.
Victorian police chief commissioner Mike Bush confirmed that Freeman was armed when he emerged from a building described as a cross between a caravan and a shipping container. Freeman presented a firearm at officers, prompting multiple members of the special operations group to open fire. Bush stated that Freeman was given every opportunity to surrender peacefully but did not take it.
Freeman had been on the run since the August 2025 shootings at Porepunkah, which killed Detective Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart. He fled into thick bushland near Mount Buffalo and vanished, sparking the largest manhunt in state history. Rumours swirled that he had fled interstate or overseas, had a bunker in the bush, or had killed himself shortly after the shootings.
Police had been surveilling the Thologolong site for about 24 hours before the standoff. Bush confirmed that no other people were spotted at the scene. It remains unclear how Freeman was found, whether he still had weapons taken from the slain officers, or who may have helped him during his time on the run. A $1m reward for information had been offered, but Bush said whether it would be paid would remain confidential.
The deaths of Thompson and de Waart-Hottart occurred when police executed a warrant at Freeman's property related to child sexual abuse allegations. Questions persist about the risk assessment that led 10 officers to the scene, whether police had intelligence that Freeman could be armed despite his firearms licence being cancelled, and how he obtained the weapon used in the killings. Bush expressed hope that Freeman's death would bring closure to the families of the victims and the force.
