Major manhunt as cop killer remains at large
A heavily-armed man, who identifies as a “sovereign citizen”, is on the run in Victorian bushland.
Source: AAP
A heavily armed man who identifies as a “sovereign citizen” remains on the run in dense bushland after killing two Victorian police officers in a “cold-blooded” shooting ambush.
The rural town of Porepunkah, in the state’s High Country, has spent the night in lockdown as police threw every available resource at tracking down the fugitive.
The man, identified in media as Dezi Freeman, shot dead a 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable on Tuesday. Another detective was seriously injured and flown to Melbourne for surgery.
The “horrific event” unfolded when 10 police officers visited the property on Rayner Track early on Tuesday to execute a search warrant, which media reports said was related to historical sex offences.
The large team of armed officers was met with gunfire. Seven of the officers were unharmed but two were killed and one injured.
“They were met by the offender, and they were murdered in cold blood,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said.
“He was heavily armed and he was able to escape into the bush. I do understand that he was pursued, but he was able to get away.”
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Dezi Freeman has a history of run-ins with the law. Photo: Supplied
Freeman, 56, was carrying “several” firearms and is considered dangerous.
Police have dedicated mass ground and air resources to locate him.
“The public should remain inside. He is obviously a very dangerous person, and he needs to be caught, and that’s why we’ve committed every resource to do that,” Bush said.
Bush said Freeman was known to police and a risk assessment had been conducted before officers executed the search warrant.
Freeman’s partner and children – who had been thought to be with him – went to a police station on Tuesday night, police said.
“There is nothing to suggest they were ever in the company of the suspect” after the shooting, they said.
The Border Mail reports that Freeman had a history of instigating legal stoushes against police and was involved in an attempt to have former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews tried for treason.
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In his most recent case that was thrown out, Freeman fought against having his drivers’ licence cancelled for two years and called police “friggin’ Nazis” and “terrorist thugs” at the hearing.
“What’s worse than a swastika is the inverted pentagram, the Satanic symbol that they wear and they behave like it as well,” he said during the hearing, The Border Mail reported.
The ABC said Freeman was arrested during a protest after his involvement in a failed attempt to privately prosecute Andrews for treason and fraud in 2021.
Before that, Freeman attempted to arrest a magistrate in Wangaratta in 2019 during a dispute over public access to the Mount Buffalo National Park, writes the ABC.
Late on Tuesday night, mourning community residents had come by the Wangaratta Police Station to lay flowers for the fallen officers.
Premier Jacinta Allan said Victorians would unite and throw their arms around Victoria Police and the Porepunkah community.
“In our toughest of times, we reach out and provide support, we provide love, we provide care and make it absolutely clear that this was a hideous criminal act and this offender will be dealt with,” she said.
A massive police operation is underway to apprehend the armed killer. Photo: AAP
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia’s security intelligence had warned about “far-right extremism” permeating other nations.
“The fact that this ideology of not seeing themselves being subject to our laws and our society … is of real concern, and ASIO have warned that this threat is very real, and that we need to be very vigilant about it,” he told ABC’s 7.30 program.
He also drew similarities between Tuesday’s incident and the ambush in the Queensland town of Wieambilla in 2022, when two officers and a neighbour were shot dead by so-called sovereign citizens after they were called to a welfare check.
Local federal MP Helen Haines said the tragedy had shaken not only Porepunkah, but communities across the country.
Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said his members had paid the “ultimate price” that was often in the back of officers’ minds as they kept the community safe.
The deaths mark Victoria’s biggest loss of police life since the 2020 Eastern Freeway crash when four officers died after a truck veered into them as they were impounding a vehicle.
-with AAP
