Melbourne — Australian police said Monday they believe they have shot dead a man accused of killing two police officers and seriously wounding a third during an incident seven months ago in a remote forest area.
Victoria police have not had a confirmed sighting of 56-year-old Dezi Freeman since officers went to serve a warrant at his property near Porepunkah, northeast of Melbourne, on Aug. 26 last year, Chief Commissioner of Police Mike Bush said. A person authorities believe to be Freeman was shot at a remote site near Thologolong — about a two-hour drive north of Porepunkah — after a heavily armed Special Operations Group was involved in a roughly three-hour standoff.
Bush said the man had been inside a shelter likened to a shipping container and that police had offered him the chance to surrender, which he accepted, but the encounter nonetheless ended with him being shot. Investigators believe the individual was armed, though Bush could not confirm whether shots were fired at officers.
Police said formal identification is required and could take up to 48 hours, including fingerprinting. Authorities have widely reported that Freeman held so‑called sovereign citizen beliefs and had wilderness survival skills that may have allowed him to evade capture in the alpine region for months.
The shooting in August prompted an extensive, months‑long search across Victoria’s densely forested mountain areas. In recent weeks police had said they believed Freeman may have died by suicide, but they would not say whether a tip led officers to the location on Monday. A reward of 1 million Australian dollars had been offered for information.
Police also said they are continuing to investigate whether anyone else assisted the suspect in avoiding arrest.
