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A fugitive who has been on the run for seven months has been shot dead in Australia.
Desmond ‘Dezi’ Freeman, 56, allegedly shot two officers at Porepunkah, a town in northeast Victoria last August.
He was discovered in a constructing in Thologolong yesterday morning, sparking a three-hour stand-off that ended with him being shot dead.
While the authorities have yet to discover the body, they believe it to be that of Freeman.
He was armed on the time of the gunfire, the force said, though cautioned that the precise details of the incident were unclear.
State police chief commissioner Mike Bush told reporters: ‘Whilst there can be knowledgeable standards command and a coroner’s hearing into this matter, all the pieces I do know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified.’
Bush said the person was present in a property that was a ‘a cross between a [shipping] container and a really long caravan’.
The armed man, he added, got here out of the constructing wrapped in a blanket.
Bush said he was ‘sure’ people assisted him while he was on the lam.
Freeman is accused of killing Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 35, on August 26.
A 3rd officer was injured after being shot within the lower body through the incident on the Rayner Track.
The ten-strong team were carrying out a search warrant as a part of an investigation by the sexual offence and child abuse team.
Desmond fled into the bushes following the shooting and was not seen again until yesterday’s stand-off at about 8.30am.
Thompson, who had served with Victoria Police for nearly 40 years, was near retiring and had built a house to spend it together with his wife before being killed.
Colleague De Waart had a passion for scuba diving and motorcycling, an obituary released last yr said.
Bush said: ‘Should it’s confirmed that the deceased is Freeman, this brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible event.’
He added that the primary people told of Desmond’s possible death was the families of Thompson and De Waart.
Officials say Desmond was a part of the conspiratorial anti-government sovereign citizen movement.
Sometimes calling themselves ‘freemen’, they consider corporations hijacked the federal government and sold the people out to shady bankers.
Officers didn’t confirm they tracked Desmond down after receiving a tip-off from a neighborhood that he was on the distant constructing.
Officers from every Australian state in addition to Recent Zealand were involved within the manhunt.
Bush said: ‘It’s been the primary focus for Victoria police for the reason that twenty sixth of August.
‘Everyone has been absolutely committed to bringing this to some conclusion.’
Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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