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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Manhunt underway in rugged Australian bush after gunman kills two
policemen
Story by The Associated Press
Updated:
2:52 AM EDT, Wed August 27, 2025
Source: AP
Australian police on Wednesday identified a suspect who and seriously
wounded a third as the search for the shooter entered day two in a
vast, remote rural area in the country’s southeast.
Dezi Freeman, 56, was heavily armed and experienced in wilderness
survival skills, Victoria’s Chief Commissioner of Police Mike Bush
told reporters.
People were urged to stay indoors.
The shooting happened on Tuesday, when 10 armed police officers tried
to execute a search warrant at Freeman’s property in Porepunkah, a
town of just over 1,000 people located 320 kilometers (200 miles)
northeast of Melbourne.
Freeman killed a 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior
constable, Bush said. Another detective was shot but his wounds are not
life threatening.
The officers “were met by the offender and they were murdered in cold
blood,” the police chief said. The man fled alone, on foot and armed
into surrounding forest where a sweeping search for him continued
through the night and into Wednesday.
Suspect’s hatred of police detailed in court ruling
Bush would not elaborate on the search warrant for Freeman’s property
and said it was “too soon to say” if his attack on the officers was
ideologically motivated. But he told reporters that attending officers
included members of a unit that investigates sexual offenses and child
abuse.
Australian news outlets widely reported that Freeman espoused so-called
sovereign citizen beliefs, citing a 2021 video taken in Wangaratta
Magistrate’s Court and published online in which he can be seen
attempting unsuccessfully to arrest a magistrate and police officers
while representing himself in a hearing.
Members of self-proclaimed sovereign citizen movements use debunked
legal theories to reject government authority. In a 2024 finding from
Victoria’s Supreme Court, where Freeman tried to challenge a lengthy
suspension of his drivers’ license, a judge wrote the man had “a
history of unpleasant encounters with police officers” whom he
referred to in his submissions to the court as “Nazis” and
“terrorist thugs.”
Bush would not say how much was known of Freeman’s beliefs before the
visit to his property.
Residents are urged to stay indoors for a second day
Porepunkah, known for its vineyards and scenic vistas, is a gateway to
Victoria’s alpine tourist region. Public buildings and the nearby
airfield were closed on Tuesday and the local school of just over 100
students was in lockdown for hours before students were allowed to go
home.
“Be vigilant, keep yourselves safe,” Bush urged residents on
Wednesday. “Please don’t go outside if you don’t need to.”
Bush admitted that the suspect’s knowledge of outdoor survival skills
posed a “challenge” to authorities. The whereabouts of Freeman’s
wife and two children were initially unknown, but they had visited a
police station and spoken to officers late on Tuesday night, Bush said.
Shooting deaths in Australia are rare
Members of the state’s police union were stricken by a “shocking
and eerie feeling of dread,” said Police Association Victoria
Secretary Wayne Gatt. “Police stations have fallen silent in Victoria
when we were first notified.”
The last police officer to be shot and killed on duty in the country
was in 2023, in South Australia state, according to the National Police
Memorial website.
In 2022, two officers were shot and killed by . The three shooters in
that incident, conspiracy theorists who hated the police, were shot and
killed by officers after a six-hour siege in the region of Wieambilla.
Shooting deaths in Australia are rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian
town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the
government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more
difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.
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