Manhunt for alleged sovereign citizen cop killer suffers major setback as shocking details emerge about shootout with police

Bad weather has hampered search efforts in Victoria’s alpine region as the extensive manhunt for alleged gunman Dezi Freeman continues into its second day.

Heavy rain and poor visibility due to low clouds have impacted the widespread search on Wednesday.

Strong winds also initially prevented the police chopper from joining the search.

It comes as a former NSW Police hostage negotiator who spent three decades in the force revealed the complexities facing cops in the vast bushland and rugged terrain.

Dr Vincent Hurley, who lectures in policing at Macquarie University, said the search would be physically and mentally draining for the officers who are searching for Freeman.

‘The only thing they could do would be to do a grid search – so they would divide the map up into a manageable bite-size grid; it might be 100 metres by 100 metres, and they could just move from east to west or from north to south,’ he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

‘It would be really physically draining on the police carrying equipment and food with them, which they will have to do, as well as whatever firearms they are carrying with them.’

Officers would also be grappling with the deaths of two colleagues allegedly gunned down by Freeman.

Dr Hurley also explained why police are tight-lipped, which has left locals on edge.

“I can totally understand what would appear to be a lack of information, but … he will be listening on the radio for the police updates,’ he said.

Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush has described how seven other officers at the property had to ‘hunker down’ until specialist police arrived, and that is when suspected gunman Dezi Freeman took his chance to escape.

‘Reason being is we didn’t know exactly where our suspect was, so we had to keep them safe, get specialist resources into the area to extract them in a safe way,’ he said.

‘They, as you can imagine, are really traumatised by this, and we’re doing everything we can to support them as well.’

He said he doesn’t believe Freeman was injured during the shootout.

‘I don’t believe he was wounded, but I do believe that we did discharge shots in his direction,’ he said.

The Commissioner added that he didn’t want to reveal too much information about how police were tracking Freeman.

‘I totally appreciate the question, and people have a thirst for knowledge, but it’s very important that we don’t share too much information,’ he said.

‘We don’t know where he is or whether he has access to media, so we have to be very conscious of that, as to what we put in the public domain, other than general search techniques.

‘So I’m sure you’ll appreciate that. I have experience where people on the run will find a way to monitor the media and that would assist them in evading us. So I’m not going to put too much in that domain.’

‘We had a good profile on that person before we went in, but I’m not going to go into any more detail about that,’ Commissioner Bush said.

He was asked if Freeman may be hiding in a bunker, and how police are hunting for him.

‘We have all of those assets [including thermal imaging cameras] in play, but we have not had any confirmed sightings with intelligence suggesting anything is possible,’ he said.

‘He knows that area. Even though we have experts in the area, he will know that area better than us. So that’s why we’re putting in every expert and supported by local knowledge as well.’

Commissioner Bush was also asked if Freeman may have set traps.

‘Anything is possible. Our people are used to those sorts of interventions. They’re well briefed to be on the lookout,’ he said.

Suspected cop killer Dezi Freeman could be using abandoned bush tunnels to avoid capture in Victoria’s remote alpine wilderness, locals have revealed.

The 56-year-old allegedly gunned down a 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable in ‘cold blood’ after an arrest warrant went bad at Freeman’s bush retreat in Porepunkah on Tuesday morning.

Daily Mail can reveal Freeman is known throughout the local community, situated at the foot of Mount Buffalo in Victoria’s north, and knows the surrounding terrain like the back of his hand.

Full story in the link below.

Victoria Police has endured its darkest day in five years after two officers were shot dead in Porepunkah on Tuesday.

It comes five years after four officers were killed in the line of duty on a Melbourne freeway.

Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Constable Glen Humphris, Senior Constable Kevin King, and Constable Josh Prestney were fatally struck by a truck as they were impounding a vehicle on the Eastern Freeway in April 2020.

Truck driver Mohinder Singh was sentenced to 18-and-a-half years’ jail over the crash.

Richard Pusey, the Porsche driver who had been pulled over, was also jailed for filming the officers as they laid dying on the road.

Senior Constable Alex Prestney, a serving police officer and Josh’s brother, shared a poignant post on Tuesday night.

‘From my family to you, and however far and wide – hold on to each other today, and every day,’ Sr Constable Prestney captioned the post.

Victoria Police has sent out hundreds of texts to everyone near Porepunkah, where two officers were shot dead – as the urgent manhunt for alleged gunman Dezi Freeman continues.

‘There is an active armed offender in the general area of Porepunkah,’ the text message states.

‘Victoria Police request you stay at home and avoid unnecessary travel. Multiple police resources, including specialists, are in the area.

‘If you see anything suspicious, call 000.’

All of Alpine Shire Council’s facilities remain closed on Wednesday.

They include all transfer stations, libraries, visitor information centres and depots across the the LGA, council’s customer service centre in Bright, and the Bright Sports Centre.

‘We appreciate your understanding,’ the council posted online.

Commissioner Bush said police have issued numerous warnings about Freeman, and expects local schools to remain closed as investigators weigh up the possibility that the gunman possibly fled across the border to New South Wales.

‘I wouldn’t be surprised if our schools have to remain closed,’ he said.

‘It would be quite appropriate.’

The top cop added that NSW Police are on standby, ready to be deployed.

‘If we have any intelligence or information to suggest [Freeman] may have crossed the border, that information will be shared with them immediately, but [they are] definitely on the lookout for anything suspicious themselves,’ he said.

‘They’re in the area. We work with them 24/7 on cross border matters, so we have a very close relationship with them, obviously, so they’re ready to deploy [and] definitely on the lookout.’

Commissioner Bush also confirmed police will soon release a detailed description of what Freeman was wearing and his appearance when he fled.

The police commissioner hopes to visit the injured officer recovering in hospital on Wedneneday.

‘My understanding is that they are out of surgery, significantly damaged, but will recover, but we’ll get more on that, but I am keen to visit them today, let us know that officer,’ Bush said.

The top cop wouldn’t confirm if the injured officer was a local cop from the high country region as it’s revealed a sex crimes detective was among the officers present to serve the warrant at Freeman’s property.

Commissioner Bush admitted that Tuesday night was ‘tough going for all of our people’ but ‘they’re absolutely determined and focused on finding this person’.

‘Our understanding of (Dezi Freeman) is that he understands bushcraft well, which provides a challenge for us, but we keep an absolutely open mind on what options are open to him, and those options will inform our approach,’ he said.

The Commissioner added that it was ‘too early’ to say if Freeman was ‘ideologically motivated’ or if he tried to shoot any of the other seven officers.

‘Those officers are still being debriefed,’ he said.

‘In fact, our number one priority with them is to get them out safely, care for them and I understand detailed interviews of those officers have only just commenced.

‘‘I think you can appreciate that we’ll care for them before we extract all the details from them. We were quite confident that those people were safe from the outset.’

‘I know there was a lot of conversation about a hostage situation, it wasn’t our belief, but it was very important for us to confirm for ourselves by actually meeting with his partner and children to ensure they were safe and that this was not a hostage situation.’

‘Don’t support this person,’ Commissioner Bush urged.

‘It’s very dangerous, he’s killed two police officers and injured a third. He does not deserve anyone’s assistance.’

Commissioner Bush said he wasn’t aware of any other arrests related to Freeman.

‘I’m not aware of any arrests in relation, quite possibly [there has been arrests], but I’m not aware of anything in relation to this matter,’ he said.

‘There’s two key things going on at the moment. One is the crime scene investigation. So we will remain at that address. We will remain there very well, armed and equipped if he is to return. But that’s in relation to the crime scene.

‘We also have a search focus that we’ve spoken about in quite some detail, but two separate things, but they work together. So we will remain there, and we are searching other locations nearby, and we will continue to focus on the densely populated bush area and other dwellings in that location.’

The Commissioner added that Freeman is heavily armed.

‘We believe he has long arms, powerful firearms, multiple firearms. We haven’t recovered any of his firearms from the scene, so we believe that firearms he used, he is still in possession of,’ he said.

‘I’m not going to go into anything at the moment, the crime scene is still under search and investigation.’

Commissioner Bush said ‘anything is possible’ when asked if Dezi Freeman may have fled interstate.

‘We don’t have any information to suggest that’s happened, but we’re open to every scenario,’ he said.

‘We have mitigations and plans in place for every eventuality. We spoke yesterday about how our colleagues across the border in New South Wales are fully briefed and on standby.

‘Should any information or intelligence be received, they will deploy immediately.

‘We have a wide cordon, we have a very wide search area in place. We have experts – the best in the country there, doing everything we can to find the suspect.’

Commissioner Bush also thanked the media for getting Freeman’s image out to the public.

‘That photo is in the public domain. I’d like to thank the media for getting that photograph out – full profiles of who that person is,’ he said.

‘I’m not going to speak further about them, but the information out there is helpful. We will also release our own materials.’

Commissioner Bush said that Freeman’s wife and children ‘willingly’ presented themselves at a police station on Tuesday night.

‘We understood where they were and we invited his partner to a police station, where we spoke to her. We have also met with the children so we could sight them and make sure they’re safe,’ he said.

‘I think the partner did go willingly to the police station to meet with us.’

Commissioner Bush hasn’t yet confirmed the identities of the detective, 59, and senior constable, 35, who were killed as some next of kin are yet to be notified.

‘The families are distraught, as you can imagine. But we’ll put every support around those good people,’ he said.

‘Our officers come to work every day to keep their communities safe. We always live with the knowledge the worst could happen. But we don’t expect it to.’

‘I also want to reassure everyone that we are providing comprehensive support to the families of the officers who tragically lost their lives in this event,’ Commissioner Bush contined.

‘I would also like to acknowledge the community of Porepunkah and the wider Bright area. I want to give you assurance that our people, Victoria Police, and the people we work with, our partner agencies, are there to keep you safe.

‘We had a large team investigating this crime, and we have a large team that are absolutely focused on finding the suspect.

‘All of our special resources are there to make this happen. The hunt will continue until we find him. I would also like to thank the public, not just from Victoria, but right across the country, for the support that they have shown Victoria Police.

‘It’s quite overwhelming and very comforting to know that the public support our police. We have had messages from the Prime Minister, the Premier has been very vocal, all of my commissioner colleagues from Australia, across the country, and across the ditch, have sent messages of support.

‘My last message as well as assurance to the community of Porepunkah and the wider area is to be vigilant, keep yourselves safe, please don’t go outside if you don’t need to, we will do everything to find this heavily armed individual. But if you see anything that arouses your suspicion, and you think we need to know, please ring triple-0.’

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said ‘every resource’ is being used to catch Freeman but have ruled it is a ‘hostage situation’.

‘I’m here to give an update on the horrific event at Porepunkah Yesterday,’ Chief Commissioner Bush said at a press conference currently underway at VicPol HQ in Melbourne.

‘I can confirm that the suspect for this horrific event is still at large, Dezi Freeman, also known as Philby, a 56-year-old local who was heavily armed and is still at large.

‘I can assure everyone that we are pouring every resource into this surge for this person.

‘We must find him. I’ll talk more about the community very shortly. What I can also say is that this is not a hostage situation. We have met with and spoken with the suspects, partner and children to ensure that they are safe.’

Victorian Police Association chief executive Wayne Gatt has spoken to and provided an update on the police officer who was shot in the leg in Porepunkah on Tuesday.

‘It was good to be able to relay to the rest of our members, who are desperate for information, that he’s going to be OK,’ he told ABC Radio Melbourne.

‘He’s obviously very devastated by what’s happened to his colleagues and challenged by the emotional circumstances, as much as his physical injuries.

‘Our thoughts are really with him as they indeed are with the families of our fallen members.

‘It’s a really, really, really difficult time for the policing family today, and all the while, in their hundreds, have got a major policing operation afoot to try and locate this offender.’

Premier Jacinta Allan has addressed the Porepunka incident in a statement, describing it was a tragic day for Victoria.

‘What has occurred in Porepunkah is shocking and utterly heartbreaking,’ she said.

‘Two Victoria Police officers have lost their lives in the service of our state. Another has been seriously injured.

‘These families are facing a kind of grief they should never have to endure. Policing comes with danger, and every day, our officers meet that danger with such enormous courage and dedication.

‘This tragedy is a painful reminder of that bravery.

‘Our government stands with Victoria Police – today, and every day they wear that uniform with pride. And we stand with the community of Porepunkah – who are now carrying the weight of this horrific day.

‘They will not carry that weight alone. Our thoughts are with the emergency services still responding to this unthinkable crime.

‘And our hearts are with the families, friends and colleagues of those who have been lost. Every support they need, we will provide.

‘Today is a tragic day for our state.’

Premier Allan appeared on ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday morning, where she offered her condolences to the loved ones of the two fallen police officers.

‘I think it’s important right now that while we wait for further details to come from Victoria Police, that we put our arms around the Victoria Police family,” she said.

‘A lot of people are feeling deep grief today.

‘They’re also going to work today to keep our communities safe.’

The partner and children of Dezi Freeman (pictured below in 2018) have been found while the manhunt for the 56-year-old continues.

‘We can report that last night the suspect’s family, his partner and children, did attend a police station,” Senior Constable Paul Hogan told ABC Radio Melbourne.

‘I know there was speculation throughout the afternoon yesterday that there could have been a hostage situation.

‘There is absolutely nothing to suggest that they were in the company of the suspect following those fatal shootings yesterday, well let’s be frank, (alleged) murders, yesterday, where two on duty police officers were shot and killed and let’s not forget that third officer that has been shot has been in hospital overnight where they remain.’

One of the slain officers was just weeks away from retirement.

The two victims have been identified as a Melbourne-based member of Victoria Police’s Public Order Response Team and a local officer stationed in Porepunkah.

A third officer survived after being shot in the leg and is now receiving treatment at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne.

2018: Neighbour wars
Freeman first came to public attention in a Nine’s A Current Affair report titled ‘Bogans from Mt Buffalo’, which documented his bitter feud with neighbours over dirt bikes, chainsaws, and noise complaints. The segment described the saga as an “all-out war.”

2020: Pulled over for traffic offences
Freeman erupted in court after being pulled over for traffic offences, launching a tirade at police. He singled out a female officer for vicious abuse and branded police ‘frigging Nazis,’ ‘Gestapo,’ and ‘terrorist thugs.’

Covid era rants
During Covid, one of Freeman’s like-minded ‘sov cit’ mates posted on social media about the ‘disaster state Victoria and the rest of Australia is in’.

Freeman responded: ‘Hell awaits those traitor maggots. There is no escape. The clock is ticking!’

He unleashed again five years ago in response to another ‘sov cit’ being pulled over by police because his registration was 17 days expired.

‘Sounds like they broke many laws in putting a DVO on you,’ he replied.

‘It is not valid, there is no DVO. Drive your car, ignore their bulls*** and call them out on every law they have broken.

‘Don’t let them hear any case against you until their crimes have been prosecuted. Arrest any criminal who breaks any laws in the court.

‘Get the hell out of the corrupt magistrate’s courts and either go higher or shut down the case completely!’

2021: Clash at Myrtleford Court
Alongside fellow sovereign citizen Jim Rech, Freeman tried to lay private charges of treason and fraud against then-Victorian Premier Dan Andrews. The case was dismissed.

Outside court, Channel 7 cameras filmed Freeman being tackled to the ground by sheriffs as he raged against ‘terrorist criminal filth.’ He and supporters later claimed he had been ‘king hit’ and ‘frog-marched’ through town in an act of ‘public humiliation.’ His wife Mali was also said to have been injured trying to intervene.

Daily Mail can reveal suspected gunman Dezi Freeman’s feud with police dates back years.

In 2020, he was convicted in the Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court of speeding, refusing to provide an oral fluid sample and using a mobile phone while driving.

His licence was cancelled for two years, though he appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, which dismissed his application in November last year.

During those hearings, Freeman launched into lengthy rants, claiming laws were unenforceable and insisting he was acting in self-defence. He accused officers of being ‘frigging Nazis,’ ‘Gestapo’ and ‘terrorist thugs’.

Court documents reveal the clash began when police believed he was speeding through Porepunkah. He pulled into a fish and chip shop where a heated exchange followed. Freeman reluctantly took a breath test but refused the drug swab, filming officers on his phone as he continued to abuse them.

In his evidence, Freeman said: ‘I state under oath, that I was acting in self-defence of myself … and in self-defence of my children … I believe I was preventing an unlawful deprivation of liberty.’

He added: ‘I had to, like, get myself and my kids out of there and hope I wasn’t gonna get chased by [the informant] or shot at or whatever else unknown.’

He compared seeing police to ‘an Auschwitz survivor seeing a Nazi soldier’ and claimed: ‘What’s worse than a swastika is the inverted pentagram, the Satanic symbol that they wear and they behave like it as well.’

Freeman ended by alleging he was the victim of ‘a lifetime of bullying and predatorial behaviour by police.’

Yesterday’s suspected gunman, Dezi Freeman, accused of killing two police officer, has described himself as a sovereign citizen.

In Australia, a sovereign citizen is someone who rejects the authority of the government, its laws, and institutions, claiming they are ‘sovereign’ and not bound by the country’s legal system.

They often believe they can opt out of obligations such as paying taxes, registering vehicles, or following police directions.

Some go further, filing pseudo-legal documents in court or using phrases like ‘I do not consent’ or ‘I stand under common law’ in an attempt to avoid legal consequences.

The movement began in the United States but has spread to Australia, largely through online communities, and occasionally surfaces in confrontations with authorities.

Police report that many adherents refuse to provide licences or acknowledge police authority during routine traffic stops.

Courts consistently dismiss these arguments as baseless, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying.

While many are more disruptive than dangerous, the ideology carries real risks. Its darkest moment came in Queensland in 2022, when two police officers were murdered in the Wieambilla shooting, an attack carried out by Australians radicalised by sovereign citizen beliefs.

It now appears yesterday’s deadly attack may be disturbingly similar.

A heavily armed man remains on the run in dense bushland after killing two police officers in a ‘cold-blooded’ shooting ambush.

The rural Victorian town of Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of Melbourne, has spent the night in lockdown as police threw every available resource at tracking down the fugitive who killed two of their own and seriously injured a third.

Ten officers were met with gunfire as they attended a property on Rayner Track in Porepunkah on Tuesday morning to execute a search warrant.

A 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable were shot dead while another detective was seriously injured and underwent surgery.

‘They were met by the offender, and they were murdered in cold blood,’ Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush told reporters.

The man, named as 56-year-old Dezi Freeman, is described as heavily armed and dangerous with several lethal weapons.

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,’ Mr Bush said.

But late on Tuesday night, mourning community residents had come by the Wangaratta Police Station to lay flowers for the fallen officers.

Mr Bush said the man was known to police and a risk assessment had been conducted before officers executed the search warrant.

The suspect’s partner and children attended a police station on Tuesday evening, police said in a statement.

‘There is nothing to suggest they were ever in the company of the suspect’ after the shooting, police said.