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. Police believe the man fatally shot at a property in Thologolong on Monday morning is Freeman, but a formal identification process is under way.
Victoria police chief commissioner Mike Bush confirmed a man was shot shortly after 8.30am following an hours-long standoff. Freeman failed to surrender peacefully and presented a firearm to officers, prompting multiple special operations group members to fire. Bush described the shooting as justified, saying the man had been given every opportunity to resolve the situation peacefully.
The deaths of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, occurred on 26 August when a group of ten police officers entered a property in Porepunkah, 210km north-east of Melbourne, to serve a search warrant. Freeman, a 56-year-old with links to pseudolaw and sovereign citizen ideology, allegedly fired upon them before fleeing heavily armed.
Bush said the manhunt was the most considerable investment of police resources ever seen, involving officers from every Australian state and territory as well as New Zealand. Police are investigating whether Freeman was aided in evading capture, and whether the owners of the Thologolong property had a prior connection to him.
The families of the slain officers have been notified of the shooting. Bush said that if the deceased is confirmed as Freeman, it brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible event. A professional standards command investigation and a coroner's inquest will follow.
