Porepunkah police shooting as it happened: Victoria police provide update on search for ‘sovereign citizen’ Dezi Freeman as thick brush around Mount Buffalo hampers progress

Night has fallen in Porepunkah as the search for alleged police killer Dezi Freeman enters its third evening.

Here’s what we know so far:

• Police have vowed not to rest until they find Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby. Officers have braved wet, windy weather as they comb bushland near the High Country town.
• The 56-year-old is accused of shooting dead Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart, 35, and injuring a third officer while being served a warrant on Tuesday. Tributes continue to flow for the much-loved members of the force.
• According to three sources with knowledge of the case but not authorised to speak publicly, the warrant was for alleged sexual offences against a child under the age of 16.
• Premier Jacinta Allan, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush and Police Minister Anthony Carbines visited the wife of Thompson to pay their respects.
• Victoria Police has thanked Victorians for the wave of support shown towards its officers. Deliveries of flowers and chocolates, along with well-wishes, have been common at police stations across the state.

New details are emerging about the warrant that took police to the Porepunkah property where Dezi Freeman was residing – the search that ended in the deaths of two officers on Tuesday and left a third seriously injured.

According to three sources with knowledge of the case but not authorised to speak publicly, the warrant was for alleged sexual offences against a child under the age of 16.

The alleged offending occurred within the past two years.

The new details of the warrant, coupled with Freeman’s profile, helps explain why 10 officers – including members of the sexual offences and child abuse investigation team – were enlisted to go to the Porepunkah property.

Vadim de Waart was the kind of guy who could never quite believe his luck.

He could get talking to a stranger during a travel disaster, and within minutes, there would be an offer of a bed or a warm meal. Years after a relationship ended, his former partners would still consider him family.

A deeply sentimental romantic, his capacity for connection was so boundless that it extended far beyond the usual limits of love and friendship.

“The fact that [I’m close with another of his former partners] shows you how kind, sweet and engaged he is with his partners,” former partner of seven years Marine Piersotte told The Age.

“He was always very positive and funny, and loved to have a good time.

Read the full story here.

It had just gone 10.30am on Tuesday when police officers pulled up to a vast property on the outskirts of the small township of Porepunkah, at the foot of Mount Buffalo, to execute a search warrant.

Wintry weather had settled over Victoria, and weekend holidaymakers who flock to the alpine region for skiing and bushwalking had returned home.

Minutes after the operation began, two officers were killed, and a police manhunt began that remains under way.

From the fatal search warrant to the emergency response, read the definitive visual story here.

As darkness falls on Porepunkah, a convoy of vehicles just drove out of the blocked-off road leading to the remote property where alleged gunman Dezi Freeman lived, nestled at the foot of Mount Buffalo.

Two “Bearcats” – heavily armoured trucks used by special operations police – were among the emergency services fleet to depart.

Several ambulances, SUVs and standard police cars left, too.

The search for Freeman looks likely to enter a fourth day tomorrow, as rain continues to fall in the High Country.

Victoria Police have thanked Victorians for the wave of support shown towards the force following the fatal shootings of two of its officers.

In a post on social media, it said: “We are deeply moved by the outpouring of support from the Victorian community and beyond.

“Thank you to everyone who has stopped by your local police station with flowers, kind words and messages of support. Your heartfelt gestures bring a measure of comfort in this difficult time.”