Two people have been arrested as the hunt for alleged police killer and self-proclaimed sovereign citizen Dezi Freeman continues.
Victoria Police confirmed the arrests this morning as the massive hunt for Freeman, 56, enters its fourth day.
“Fugitive Squad detectives, along with Special Operations Group members, attended a Porepunkah address about 8.40pm [last night].
“A 42-year-old woman and 15-year-old boy were safely arrested at the address and taken into custody.
“The Porepunkah pair were interviewed and released pending further inquiries.
“Extensive searches remain ongoing for the offender Desmond Filby, also known as Desmond Freeman, whose location remains unknown.
“We urge the public in and around the township of Porepunkah to remain vigilant and report any sightings or suspicious behaviour by calling triple-0.”
The hunt for the sovereign citizen gunman in the dense bushland outside Porepunkah came down into the township with police targeting a house on Thursday night.
The Age is reporting the 42-year-old woman arrested is Freeman’s wife, Mali Freeman, and the house is owned by a friend of hers. On Tuesday night, some 12 hours after the shooting, Freeman voluntarily attended a police station after police had been unable to find her and her children.
The Australian published a photo from Thursday night, reportedly of Freeman standing barefoot on the road talking to police and holding a toddler.
As the tense, wide-scale search for Freeman neared a fourth day overnight, officers ordered people to “come out with nothing in your hands” using a loud speaker directed at a home in the Porepunkah township.
The house on Chandler Circuit represents a shift for the heavily armed police hunting the gunman who allegedly shot three police officers on Tuesday, killing two of them.
After three days scouring the thick mountainous bush around Freeman’s rural property on the outskirts of Porepunkah, Thursday’s search at Chandler Circuit is the first major police action targeting any potential hiding spots in the township.
Media on the ground are reporting the house on Chandler Circuit is linked to a family member of Freeman’s.
A no-fly zone above Porepunkah has been extended, again, until late Sunday as police and paramedic helicopters buzz across the Victorian alpine region.
The general Victoria Police helicopter, the heavily armed Special Operations Group chopper as well as ambulance helicopters have all been frequent users of the Porepunkah airspace this week.
The police helicopters have thermal imaging cameras. One of the Special Operations Group helicopters spent hours hovering above the scene of the shooting on Wednesday, as a series of loud bangs ran out. Police did not, and have not, confirmed if the noises were gunshots, or stun grenades, or something else.
Police also have at their disposal drones with thermal imaging cameras. The no-fly zone has been extended to 11.30pm Sunday, and excludes drones and all aircraft from a 7.5km radius of the police’s command centre at a winery just outside town.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush is expected to provide an update on the search about 1.30pm on Friday.
Senior Constable Paul Hogan said on Friday the police force had been overwhelmed at signs of support following the deaths of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart.
“It’s overwhelming and my colleagues could not appreciate it more,” he told 3AW on Friday.
Constable De Waart and Constable Thompson were fatally shot on Tuesday as they and eight other officers from the sexual offences and child abuse investigation team served a warrant on Freeman. A third officer was shot in the leg and is recovering in hospital.
Freeman apparently legally changed his surname from Filby as a nod to his sovereign citizen ideology.
His family released a statement on Thursday to Seven News, saying they were “actively assisting police with their investigation and are providing details of our knowledge of the area and property”.
“We are devastated, heartbroken and sickened by the loss of two police officers,” they said.
“Decades ago, Dezi detached himself from us in both name and ideology.
“We stand with the brave members of Victoria police and the families of the murdered officers.”
After the shooting at Freeman’s property on Tuesday morning, the experienced bushman fled towards Mt Buffalo National Park.
Heavy rain, thick cloud cover and frigid temperatures have been a constant in the alpine town throughout the week.
Conditions are forecast to get colder again in coming days.
The heavily armed NSW Police Special Operations Group have been on scene with their Victorian counterparts.
On Friday, Anthony Albanese said national resources were at the police’s disposal.
“What’s occurred here is that we have offered the Premier, Jacinta Allan, every support that is required. And this is a full-court press,” the Prime Minister said.
“This guy clearly is dangerous. He’s on the run and we want him caught. And we want people who are traumatised in that northeast community of Victoria to feel safe again.
“Porepunkah is a small community and this has devastated them. It’s devastated the families of the police officers who’ve lost their lives. And of course it’s devastated as well.”
Albanese reiterated the dangers of police work.
“The entire police family, the police have a bond and it’s a reminder of all of us that the men and women who put on blue to defend us and to look after safety in our local communities, take a risk each and every day, so they are heroes,” he said.
“Detective Thompson and Senior Constable De Waart are heroes, and we also give our thoughts to those who have been injured during this incident.”
Freeman held entrenched, radical views that laws did not apply to him.
A self-proclaimed “sovereign citizen”, Freeman was heavily involved in the sovereign citizen movement which gained more followers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
His view extended to a hatred of police and the government. His views have been documented in court filings, his online footprint, and past media reporting from during the pandemic.
With emergency text messages going to every phone in the area twice a day, the alpine town of just a few hundred people has been particularly devoid of locals and tourists this week.
Most traffic has been police and media.
The pub has been shut, leaving only the cafe and the petrol station as only places for residents and reporters to speculate on Freeman’s location.
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