A 56-year-old man believed to be Dezi Freeman was fatally shot by Australian police Monday after a three-hour standoff, ending a seven-month manhunt. Freeman was wanted for allegedly killing two police officers and wounding a third in Victoria state last August.
MELBOURNE, Australia — A seven-month manhunt in Australia has ended with police fatally shooting a man they believe killed two officers and critically injured another in a remote forest area.
The suspect, identified as 56-year-old Dezi Freeman, had evaded capture since allegedly firing on law enforcement officers who arrived to execute a warrant at his residence near Porepunkah in Victoria state on August 26 of last year, according to Victoria’s Chief Commissioner of Police Mike Bush.
Authorities located and killed a man they believe to be Freeman on Monday in an isolated area close to Thologolong, approximately two hours by car north of where the original shooting occurred.
“We believe it is Freeman, but we have to go through a formal identification process,” Bush explained to media representatives in Melbourne. He noted that confirming the identity could require up to 48 hours using methods such as fingerprint analysis.
Elite tactical officers from the Special Operations Group engaged in a three-hour confrontation before the fatal shooting occurred. The individual had taken refuge in a structure resembling a shipping container and declined police attempts to negotiate his surrender, Bush reported.
“This was all about bringing this to a conclusion as safely as possible. Our ultimate goal was to arrest the person there … as peacefully as possible,” Bush stated.
The police commissioner expressed his strong conviction that the suspect possessed weapons, though he could not confirm whether the man fired upon officers during the final encounter.
Media reports indicated that Freeman held sovereign citizen ideologies and harbored animosity toward law enforcement. His wilderness survival expertise raised concerns among police that he could remain at large indefinitely in the outdoors.
The attack on three officers triggered an extensive search operation throughout Victoria’s densely wooded mountain territory. Recent months saw police considering the possibility that Freeman had committed suicide.
“We have to follow every avenue of inquiry and there was a lot to suggest that Freedman had taken his own life,” Bush noted.
The commissioner declined to reveal whether a tip from the public led to Monday’s discovery. Law enforcement had posted a reward of 1 million Australian dollars ($678,000) for information leading to Freeman’s capture.
Investigators continue examining whether additional individuals assisted the fugitive in avoiding apprehension.