Police: Armed Suspect Dezi Freeman Remains at Large

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Police revisited a rural location where two officers were reportedly ambushed and killed “in cold blood”, as their intensive land and aerial search persists.

The town of Porepunkah, situated roughly 300km north-east of Melbourne, remains under lockdown on Wednesday afternoon while police continue to track down the suspected gunman Dezi Freeman — also known as Desmond Filby — who fled into the surrounding wilderness.

Detective leading senior constable Neal Thompson, 59, and senior constable Vadim De Waart, 35, were shot while executing a search warrant at the property near the town’s edge on Tuesday morning.

Police say Dezi Freeman ‘heavily armed’

Victoria Police chief commissioner Mike Bush said Freeman was still at large and “heavily armed” with “powerful” and “multiple” firearms.

“Please stay alert. Ensure your safety. Stay indoors unless absolutely necessary. We are doing all we can to apprehend this heavily armed suspect. Should you notice anything suspicious, do not hesitate to call 000 immediately,” Bush urged.

Police believe these are the same guns Freeman used in the shooting.

Victoria Police believe Freeman is in dense bushland. Police have dedicated mass ground and air resources to locate him, but said the conditions were “tough”.

“Our understanding of him [Freeman] is that he understands bush craft well, which provides a challenge for us,” Bush said.

A map showing the location of the regional town of Porepunkah with other locations also marked, including Melbourne, Albury, and the states of Victoria and NSW.

The rural Victorian town of Porepunkah is situated approximately 300km north-east of Melbourne. Source: SBS News

The weather in Victoria’s high country continues to deteriorate on Wednesday as the search focuses back on the property.

Several police cars, some with NSW plates, were seen driving to the property that had been blocked off.

Two helicopters were searching the Alpine region, with one hovering above the property before departing just after 2pm.

A no-fly zone, spanning approximately 7.5km, has been granted by the aviation bureau for all aircraft and drones and will remain in effect until at least 11.30pm on 29 August.

Police confirmed there has still been no sighting of Freeman in a statement at 2pm on Wednesday.

They released a photo of the suspect, who was described as Caucasian, 183cm tall, medium build, with short dark hair and brown eyes.

He was last seen wearing dark green tracksuit pants, a dark green rain jacket, brown Blundstone boots and reading glasses.

Victoria Police names slain police officers

Victoria Police on Wednesday afternoon confirmed the identities of two officers killed.

Thompson joined Victoria Police in September 1987 and worked as a detective in the Major Fraud Squad and the State Crime Squad, before joining the Wangaratta Crime Investigation Unit in July 2007.

Victoria Police said he was an adventurer who had spent the past six years alongside his partner, Lisa.

“Neal found renewed motivation after meeting his partner and was eagerly planning for his upcoming retirement. He and Lisa had constructed a new home and had many projects arranged for his post-retirement days,” they shared.

Waart started his policing career in 2018 and joined the Public Order Response Team as a senior constable in 2023. The police said he was on temporary assignment in Wangaratta when he was killed.

“An eternal optimist and avid traveller, Vadim was fluent in French, Spanish, Flemish and English. He had also completed scuba dives all around the world and motorcycling trips more locally with his friends and colleagues,” they said.

“Vadim is deeply mourned by his cherished parents, Carolina and Alain, in his homeland Belgium, and his younger brother, Sacha, residing in Switzerland. In Melbourne, he leaves behind his aunt Jacqueline, uncles Shane and Peter, aunt Maria, and his cousins Christopher, Jeremy, Laura, and Tessa.”

Prime minister says ‘sovereign citizen’ ideology a concern

Victoria Police said it was “too early to say” if the attack was ideologically motivated.

The ABC reported that police believed the suspected shooter was a “sovereign citizen”. Sovereign citizens view the government as illegitimate and falsely believe they are not subject to laws.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government was taking their threat, and other far-right extremist views, seriously.

“Mike Burgess, the director-general of ASIO, has been warning about far-right extremism,” Albanese told ABC Radio on Wednesday morning.

“We have seen that spread and it is difficult to defend against individuals.

“This person, Dezi Freeman — who remains on the run — has engaged in an attack in which two police officers have lost their lives and a third has been seriously injured. My heart goes out to the family and friends of those directly affected, but also to the police family in Victoria.”

Albanese said earlier that 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 on Tuesday night.

He also drew similarities between the alleged incident to two Queensland officers and a neighbour who were shot dead by so-called sovereign citizens in an ambush in the town of Wieambilla in 2022 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 is often in the back of officers’ minds as they keep the community safe.

The deaths mark the state’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 additional reporting from the Australian Associated Press.