Two men have been arrested in connection with the movements of Dezi Freeman, the man who fatally shot two police officers and wounded a third in Porepunkah, Victoria, last August. Freeman then evaded capture for months before being shot and killed by police in March.
Arrests Made in Operation Summit
Victoria Police announced on Tuesday that detectives arrested a 48-year-old man and a 45-year-old man at two separate locations in north-east Victoria as part of Operation Summit, the investigation into Freeman's activities after the shootings. The pair are expected to be interviewed by police. Authorities stated that the investigation remains active and declined to provide further details at this time.
The Porepunkah Shootings
On August 26, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, were killed, and a third officer was injured when Freeman opened fire on a team of 10 police officers executing a search warrant at a property in Porepunkah, approximately 210 kilometres north-east of Melbourne. The warrant was related to an alleged sexual assault involving a child under 16 and an attempt to involve a child in the production of child abuse material.
Freeman, 56, who had a history of association with pseudolaw or sovereign citizen ideology, fled into the bush heavily armed, prompting a major manhunt. His seven-month evasion ended on March 30 when he was shot and killed by police on a remote property in Thologolong, near the Victoria-New South Wales border.
Coronial Inquests Underway
The arrests came a day after the Coroner's Court held separate directions hearings into the deaths of the two officers and the fatal police shooting of Freeman. No dates have been set for the inquests, though they may occur next year. State Coroner Liberty Sanger noted that the officers had arrived at Freeman's property to execute the search warrant after receiving disclosure of the alleged offences.
This article was amended on 26 May 2026 to correct the ages of the arrested men, initially reported as 48 and 35, to 48 and 45 as confirmed by Victoria Police.
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