Alleged police killer Dezi Freeman remains on the run and heavily armed

Alleged gunman Dezi Freeman remains on the run, heavily armed and with nothing to lose as tributes flow for the two officers shot and killed in Porepunkah in Victoria’s north-east on Tuesday.

Freeman’s former landlord fears for his own safety and that of scores of people in the local community who have fallen out with the 56-year-old, amid revelations Freeman lost his firearm licence five years ago.

Despite bleak winter conditions and a huge police presence in the area, there has not been a confirmed sighting of the fugitive since 10.30am on Tuesday.

Freeman, born Desmond Filby, is accused of killing Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart, who were honoured on Wednesday as having paid the ultimate sacrifice. A third officer was wounded in the ambush and taken by helicopter to The Alfred hospital in Melbourne.

Thompson was nearing the end of a lifetime of service, while de Waart was a new face in the alpine region.

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the loss of the men “struck at the heart of Victoria Police, the broader policing family and the community of Porepunkah”.

Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said Thompson would leave a void that could not be filled, in policing and in friendship, and that policing came naturally to de Waart, who loved helping people.

Melbourne’s state buildings were lit up in blue on Wednesday night and flags across the city were lowered to half-mast in tribute to the slain officers.

Loud bangs were heard from the search scene on Wednesday, and police vehicles and ambulances were seen arriving at the property where Freeman had called a bus home.

Bush conceded on Wednesday that hunting Freeman, who is armed with powerful firearms and believed to be hiding out in the dense Porepunkah bushland he knows intimately, was a challenge.

“He knows that area. Even though we have experts in the area, he will know that area better than us. So that’s why we’re putting in every expert and supported by local knowledge as well. We’re very mindful that he could travel. We don’t think he has access to any transport, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be able to find something,” the chief commissioner said.

He said Freeman was “obviously a very dangerous person” and had been known to police. Freeman is armed with a home-made shotgun, a rifle and at least one handgun stolen from a slain officer, according to police sources not authorised to speak publicly.

It was revealed on Wednesday that authorities had revoked Freeman’s gun licence in 2020 following speeding charges.

Freeman has for years displayed contempt for police and the justice system, and is known among anti-authority extremist groups for his public stunts. He has described police as terrorist thugs and Nazis, and in the days before the police killings his wife confided in a neighbour, fearing for his mental health.

The ambush occurred on Tuesday morning, when 10 officers arrived with a warrant at the 50-hectare remote property where Freeman was living. Shortly after, a neighbour reported hearing a volley of up to 20 shots, which killed Thompson, a 59-year-old detective from Wangaratta, and de Waart, a 35-year-old officer from Melbourne. The third officer underwent surgery at The Alfred and remains in a stable condition.

Freeman’s former friend and Myrtleford landlord, who has asked not to be identified over fears for his and others’ safety, said he and several others had witnessed Freeman’s descent into anger over a number of years.

Introduced to Freeman and Freeman’s Filipino wife, Mali, through connections to the Filipino community, the man and his family let the Freemans rent a second house on their farm at the base of Mount Buffalo for about seven years, until things began to fall apart in 2018.

“He was fine when [he moved in]; we’d catch up and have a chat and laugh. I’d go to parties over there and we had a few beers and all that. He was always happy going,” the Myrtleford landlord said. “That’s when he had a run-in with the neighbours, and that’s when everything became sort of negative,” he said.

That dispute played out on A Current Affair in 2018 when Freeman claimed his neighbours were using dirt bikes to terrorise him, Mali and their two sons, who were being home-schooled at the property.

After the TV cameras left and things didn’t improve, the landlord said, Freeman gradually became more angry and obsessive. As Freeman grew angrier at those around him, the landlord asked him to move out in about 2019.

“He just wanted to go through and walk in the bush, and then they wouldn’t let him. That was the main reason,” he said.

During his time on the man’s Myrtelford property, Freeman never had a job and spent most of his time deep in the bush surrounding Mount Buffalo.

“He has nothing left to lose now,” his former landlord and friend said.

Relying on Centrelink payments, Freeman and his family eventually moved onto a bus at the sprawling rural property where he was living when the 10 detectives arrived at his door.

The land is shared by a community known to be interested in “off the grid” living. The farm is owned by a local couple who are well liked by the community, described by one man as “massive greenies”.

One of the owners has shared anti-authority content on their social media, including anti-vaccination posts and is a signatory on a petition titled: “International Appeal to Stop 5G on Earth and in Space”.

A man who said he lived on the property manned the driveway on Wednesday, telling this masthead he was there to protect the owners from trespassers.

Freeman’s wife, Mali, and three children went to a local police station late on Tuesday evening. The family had been in contact with friends to let them know they were safe, locals said.

A friend of the family said he did not believe Mali and the children were home at the time police swarmed the bus they were living in.

Chief Commissioner Bush said police knew where the family were shortly after the attack, and that there was no suggestion the family was involved.

“We invited his [Freeman’s] partner to a police station, where we’ve spoken to her. We’ve also met with the children, just so we can sight them and make sure they’re safe,” Bush said.

The eldest son raced home from his work after receiving a phone call on Tuesday.

Said local Angelo Zambellakis: “There needs to be some positive light put on the family. Everyone loves Mali.”

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