New Zealand police have joined Australia’s largest-ever police operation to find fugitive Dezi Freeman, who allegedly killed an officer in the Victorian town of Porepunkah.
Hundreds of police officers from Victoria, the Australian Federal Police, the army, and a contingent from New Zealand are part of a large-scale manhunt for Mr Freeman, who is accused of shooting dead a detective and a constable at his Porepunkah property last month.
“Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart were tragically killed in the line of duty. A third police officer was seriously injured after being shot in the lower body,” Victoria police said in a statement.
“Desmond Freeman (Filby), sometimes known to associates as Dezi, is wanted in connection to the shooting death of two police officers in Porepunkah on Tuesday, 26 August,” police said.
He is a conspiracy theorist and a self-described “sovereign citizen” who rejects government and law, according to local police.
The father of two was known to be a kind and polite person by locals, but seemingly changed during the Covid-19 pandemic and was outspoken about his deep distrust for government restrictions and lockdowns.
“He went from being just a pretty ordinary country bloke… a normal dude you’d see at the local footy club all the time to quite a strange bloke. He fell down a bit of a rabbit hole and sort of disappeared and went off the radar,” Sydney Morning Herald reported earlier this month.
Mr Freeman has now been on the run for over 20 days, with police searching for him across hundreds of properties in Victoria “with and without warrant”, including in abandoned houses, caves and huts, ABC News reported.
“He is believed to be armed with firearms, and we urge people not to approach him,” police said, adding that there’s a reward of up to $664,000 (AUD 1M) for information leading to his arrest.
Police say the search area contains “many places to hide”, prompting authorities to put together a “highly technical search that requires absolutely specialist capabilities to undertake because of the dangers that are involved”.
“This is a really highly technical search that requires absolutely specialist capabilities to undertake because of the dangers that are involved,” they said.
Victoria Police released several photos of officers in search of the alleged killer, including one where a specialist officer can be seen lying before a tunnel and another where three officers are crouched in a dark, narrow cave.
Until now, there have been no further confirmed sightings of the alleged killer.
Authorities have eased a travel warning that urged people to avoid Porepunkah, but “be vigilant and understand the environment”.
