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Dezi Freeman shooting live updates: Australian fugitive shot dead after refusing to surrender peacefully, police say | Porepunkah shooting
Key events
Asked if he would deem the operation to find Freeman a success, Bush says:
It’s come to a conclusion which gives closure to everyone involved.
‘Possible’ shots were fired at police, Bush says
Asked if shots were fired at police today, Bush said:
That’s what we are working through. It’s quite possible. But it’s yet to be determined.
Asked whether the operation today was intended to result in arrest or if it was a tactical operation, Bush said:
This was about bringing this to a conclusion as safely as possible. Our ultimate goal was to arrest the person there as the subject of this operation. To arrest as peacefully as possible. We don’t determine how they act.
Bush said it would have been very difficult for Freeman to get to where he was without help, and that there would be an ongoing investigation as to who supported him “in this escapade”.
Bush will still not confirm the shooting today occurred at Walwa, but if it did, that’s around 2.5 hours’ drive, or roughly 190km, from Porepunkah.
Bush said:
We’ll be speaking to anyone who may have assisted him to avoid detection and arrest.
Bush said the standoff with Freeman this morning began at about 5.30am and was over by 8.30am.
Bush said:
The standoff commenced early this morning when we made an appeal for the person inside that premises to come out.
Chief commissioner of Victoria police, Mike Bush, wouldn’t say how much the hunt for Freeman cost, but he said it was “one of the most significant resourced or largely resourced police operations in history.”
They had more than 2,000 leads on Freeman’s location and a number of sightings, but none were confirmed and a large number were eliminated.
Bush said he’s pleased to be able to dedicate police resources to “other serious crime investigations” given how many resources this operation has consumed.
Freeman hiding in shipping container-like building
Bush wouldn’t confirm the location of the shooting, though there are reports that it was in Walwa, which is to the north-east of Porepunkah, close to the New South Wales border.
There were reports Freeman was hiding in a shipping container when he was discovered by police. Bush says:
It’s a very similar construction to a container but it wasn’t a container.
I would describe it as a cross between a container and a very long caravan.
Dezi Freeman refused to surrender peacefully before he was fatally shot, commissioner says
Asked about whether there was “a shootout” or a conversation with Freeman, Bush says:
What I can say is that there was an appeal to encourage the person to come out.
We are examining the sequence of events and we will be able to report on that, but it did result from a standoff, the deployment of tactics. He then exited the building. There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully which he did not …
We strongly believe, yet to be confirmed as well, that he was armed.
The chief commissioner is asked about the fact that the most recent update from police regarding Dezi Freeman indicated that they believed Freeman was dead. He is asked if that was a genuine belief or a tactic.
Bush responds:
It’s a very good question because, you know, we have to follow every avenue of inquiry and there was a lot to suggest that Freeman had taken his own life. But I can tell you standing here that our investigators – that’s why they’re professionals – keep their mind open to every possible outcome and follow every possible lead.
He does not elaborate on what led them to Freeman this morning.
Bush says that if the formal process does confirm that the deceased man is Freeman, this “brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible” situation.
He acknowledges the police across the jurisdictions that have worked on the Freeman hunt and the people of Porepunkah and the surrounding areas.
Operation to find Freeman has concluded, commissioner says
Bush says the seven-month operation to find Freeman concluded this morning.
Bush says he believes the shooting of the man today was justified:
The operation was conducted by our professionals, members of our Special Operations Group, and Task Force Summit investigators.
Whilst there will be a Professional Standards Command, a coroner’s hearing into this matter, everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified.
As I said, the operation was conducted by professionals from Victoria police. The very first people to be made aware of the outcome of this operation were the families of the officers tragically killed on 26 August, and all of the members that were involved on that day.
Victoria police commissioner speaking in Melbourne
Chief commissioner Mike Bush is speaking now about this morning’s police shooting.
Bush says:
I confirm this morning, Victoria police as a result of an operation in the north-east of Victoria fatally shot a man as a result of the operation and the shooting of two police officers.
Whilst it’s been reported that person is Dezi Freeman, we have to run through a very formal identification process so Victoria police at this stage will not confirm the identity of that person until that process has been undertaken.
A recap of the circumstances surrounding the hunt for Freeman
The police officers who were shot had been part of a group of 10 police – made up of local officers and members of the sexual offences and child abuse investigation team – who entered Freeman’s Porepunkah property, about 300km north-east of Melbourne in rural Victoria, on a Tuesday morning in August to serve a search warrant. They were then allegedly fired upon by Freeman.
Freeman, a 56-year-old with a history of association with pseudolaw or “sovereign citizen” ideology, allegedly fled into the bush heavily armed, with a manhunt ensuing that has been continuing for the seven months since.
Benita Kolovos
Scott Brandon, owner of the Bright Brewery, a few kilometres away from Porepunkah, has told ABC Radio Melbourne this morning that locals feel a “big relief” following the discovery of Dezi Freeman. He told host Raf Epstein:
I think it’s a big relief for us to have this chapter resolved, if this news is correct. It’s certainly something that’s been weighing on our minds for several months now.
Brandon said when initial search operations were underway there was a “big impact” on tourism in the area and it “caused a lot fear in the community”:
Since then everything has pretty much returned to normal … but it’s certainly something that still gets discussed from time to time. When you’ve got an unresolved event like that where somebody’s clearly still being searched for, it’s going to keep coming up. And so, you know, I think it’s a relief just to have an end to all of that.
Independent federal MP Helen Haines, whose electorate of Indi encompasses Porepunkah and much of the surrounding high country, has released a statement this morning in the wake of the news that Freeman has been shot and killed.
Haines said:
Over the past six months, a dark cloud has hung over the Porepunkah community.
News this morning of the death of Mr Freeman draws this prolonged and devastating incident to a close.
This will come as a relief to the whole community – especially to the families of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, and their colleagues.
I thank Victoria Police, and all those involved in the search for their determination and service.
Benita Kolovos
‘Thoughts, concerns and support’ with Porepunkah community, Victorian attorney general says
The Victorian attorney general, Sonya Kilkenny, was holding a press conference in Melbourne as the news emerged of the police shooting of Freeman. She said:
It is a developing situation and of course understand Victoria police has put out a statement a few moments ago. I think the main thing is our thoughts, our concerns and our support are with the Porepunkah community and the families of the two police officers who were killed in that tragic incident nearly six months ago.
Police Association confirms Freeman shot by officers
Benita Kolovos
Wayne Gatt, secretary of the Police Association Victoria, issued a statement a little earlier confirming the man fatally shot was Dezi Freeman.
He said:
Our members said they would find him. They did.
Closure isn’t the right word. This represents a step forward for our members, for the families of our fallen members and for the community. It doesn’t lessen the trauma, give back the futures that were callously stolen or lessen the collective fear and grief that this tragic event has instilled in police and the wider public.
Gatt said police officers “won’t reflect on the loss of a coward”. Instead, he said they will spend the day remembering “the courage and bravery of our fallen members and every officer that has doggedly pursued this outcome for the community.”
Gatt’s statement continued:
They have worked tirelessly. During the emergency, in the operation that followed and the months thereafter, members across the state have devoted themselves to this singular pursuit. Days like today offer a sobering reminder that policing happens while you sleep, when the media spotlight on an investigation dims and when everything seems lost and forgotten.
RIP Vadim and Neal. Today, we remember you.
Welcome
Good morning. Welcome to our live coverage in the wake of the news today that police have shot and killed fugitive Dezi Freeman in north-east Victoria this morning.
Police had been searching for Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby, since 26 August when he allegedly shot and killed Det Leading Sen Const Neal Thompson, 59, and Sen Const Vadim De Waart, 35, and injured a third officer at a property in the small town of Porepunkah, in Victoria’s high country.
We’re expecting to hear shortly from Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush with more details about the incident.
