Seven months ago, few outside of the Australian state of Victoria had heard of the town of Porepunkah, with its population of just over 1,000 people.
But the fatal shooting of two police officers by local Dezi Freeman last August, and the manhunt that followed, thrust it into the headlines not just in Australia, but around the world.
That manhunt – one of the largest in Australian police history – ended on Monday, after officers shot Freeman dead following a three-hour stand-off at a property almost two hours’ drive north of Porepunkah.
Back in the town where Freeman had lived with his family, few wanted to speak on the record.
Those who did speak to the BBC and other outlets expressed a range of emotions: relief bordering on happiness, hope the town might now start to recover, and anger at what it has gone through already. One resident told the BBC the town had been “ruined” by the media spotlight.
But the overwhelming feeling is sorrow, Marcus Warner said, a long-time search-and-rescue volunteer in the region and its chamber of commerce president.
Victoria’s Alpine region is home to a very small, close-knit community, in which both the Freeman family and the slain officers Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart were well-known.
“There was a degree of shock to hear that had happened and it didn’t take very long then for a wave of sadness to fall,” Warner said of Monday morning’s stand-off, which came a month after police said they believed Freeman to be dead.
“To some degree it’s a weight lifted off our shoulders. We feel we can breathe again. Obviously there’s still a long healing process, emotionally, psychologically, economically – a lot of the financial losses will never be recovered.”