Police in Victoria are carrying out a large-scale search for 56-year-old Dezi Freeman after two officers were killed and a third wounded during a warrant operation near Porepunkah in the state’s high country.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35, died on Tuesday after Freeman allegedly opened fire with a home-made shotgun. A third officer was injured but survived. Freeman is accused of taking the officers’ guns and a police radio before fleeing into the surrounding alpine wilderness, about 300km northeast of Melbourne. More than 100 officers, including units from neighbouring New South Wales, are involved in the manhunt.
Police initially feared Freeman may have taken his wife and two children with him, but the family later reported safely to a local police station.
Thompson, a veteran detective weeks from retirement, had served with Victoria Police since 1987. He had worked in major fraud, the state crime squad, and most recently with Wangaratta CIU, where he was respected as an experienced investigator. Known as an outdoorsman, he was described by colleagues as an adventurer planning to retire with his partner, Lisa.
De Waart, originally from Belgium, joined Victoria Police in 2018 and served at St Kilda before joining the Public Order Response Team in 2023. On secondment to northeast Victoria, he had only been in the region a week before his death. He spoke multiple languages, was passionate about travel, scuba diving and motorcycling, and was known among friends for his optimism and energy. He is survived by his parents in Belgium, his brother in Switzerland, and extended family in Melbourne.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the deaths had “struck at the heart” of the force and the wider community, paying tribute to the officers’ sacrifice. He added that while police accept the risks of the job, such losses are never expected.
Freeman, identified in local media as linked to the “sovereign citizen” movement, remains at large. Police have urged the public to avoid the Porepunkah area as the search continues.