{"id":236656,"date":"2025-10-24T03:54:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T03:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/236656\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T03:54:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T03:54:14","slug":"dezi-freeman-police-update-on-search-for-man-accused-of-killing-two-officers-injuring-third-in-porepunkah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/236656\/","title":{"rendered":"Dezi Freeman: Police update on search for man accused of killing two officers, injuring third in Porepunkah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police have provided an update on their months-long hunt for sovereign citizen Desmond \u2018Dezi\u2019 Freeman, wanted over the deaths of two officers during a shootout in Victoria.<\/p>\n

Mr Freeman allegedly shot dead Det-Sen. Const. Neal Thompson, 59, and Sen. Const. Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 34, and seriously injured a third officer on August 26.<\/p>\n

They were part of a team of 10 officers who attended his home to serve a warrant over child sexual offences.<\/p>\n

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Mr Freeman hasn\u2019t been seen since and a $1 million dollar reward \u2014 the largest ever offered in Victoria \u2014 is in place for any information which leads to his arrest.<\/p>\n

\"DeziDezi Freeman has been on the run since a shootout at his home on August 26. Credit: Unknown\/Supplied<\/p>\n

Victoria Police announced on Friday that Taskforce Summit would now take the lead role in the search for Mr Freeman and would be led by a detective inspector from the Victoria Police Crime Command State Anti-Gangs Division.<\/p>\n

The taskforce would be based in the Great Alpine area and would include detectives from Crime Command and be assisted by specialist resources from various units.<\/p>\n

The investigation into the murders of Det-Sen. Const. Thompson Sen. Const. de Waart-Hottart would continue to be led by the homicide squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cMembers from the Public Order Response Team (PORT) are currently embedded into Bright and Myrtleford police stations, increasing local patrols and enhancing police numbers in the area as the search continues,\u201d a police statement read.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work of the Ovens Incident Police Operations Centre (IPOC) and Police Forward Command Post, which have operated for the past eight weeks, will now transition into the taskforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe property of Dezi Freeman where the shootings occurred. Credit: Andrew Henshaw NewsWire\/NCA NewsWire<\/p>\n

Extensive searches of the surrounding bushland and the investigation of more than 1700 pieces of intelligence have so far proved fruitless.<\/p>\n

It is feared Mr Freeman may be hiding out and could be receiving assistance from locals, or may have even have fled the state.<\/p>\n

However, Mr Freeman\u2019s brother James Filby has previously said he believes his brother died in Mount Buffalo National Park, close to his home.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got away,\u201d a source told the Daily Mail<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe belief is he somehow escaped and is now holed up safely across the border,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe bus where Dezi Freeman was living. Credit: Jason Edwards NewsWire<\/p>\n

Assistant Commissioner Martin O\u2019Brien said Victoria Police remained committed to using every available resource to find Mr Freeman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis investigation is far from over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we do believe it will only be brought to resolution through assistance from members of the public. I strongly urge anyone with any information at all, no matter how small you think it may be, to come forward and contact Crime Stoppers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could be sightings of Freeman, information you\u2019re hearing in your local communities, even suspicious activity on your property \u2013 whatever it is, we want to hear from you. As always, this can be done anonymously.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been an extremely challenging investigation but are we incredibly determined to see this to resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mount Buffalo National Park, closed to the public after the shootout as police hunted for Mr Freeman and partially reopened on October 14, was fully reopened on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police have provided an update on their months-long hunt for sovereign citizen Desmond \u2018Dezi\u2019 Freeman, wanted over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[63,43,44,41,39,42,40,660],"class_list":["post-236656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-australia","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}