Porepunkah shooting as it happened: Two Victoria Police officers shot dead and one injured after ambush in High Country

That will conclude our coverage of the shooting in Porepunkah for today.

Here is a summary of today’s key events;

• Two police officers are dead and another injured after a shooting at a rural property in Porepunkah, about 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne and seven kilometres north-west of Bright about 10.30am on Tuesday.
• The alleged gunman, a 56-year-old conspiracy theorist named Dezi Freeman, remains at large.
• Victoria Police said 10 officers were at the property to execute a warrant when two were shot dead in an ambush.
• The two officers killed are a 59-year-old detective from Wangaratta and a 35-year-old officer from Melbourne.
• A detective, who was wounded in the upper-leg was taken by air ambulance to The Alfred hospital, where he underwent surgery and remains in a stable condition.
• Freeman was living on a bus on the property and is believed to be a “sovereign citizen”, a member of a radical group that follows conspiracy theories and believes the government is illegitimate. Freeman fled into the bush.
• Police have accounted for the whereabouts of Freeman’s partner and children. Police said there was nothing to suggest they were with Freeman following the shooting.
• Police officials and politicians, including the prime minister, expressed their sorrow at the killings.
• Porepunkah locals were being advised to remain inside their homes and authorities are asking people to not visit the area.

Our team will return on Wednesday to bring you live coverage of events.

Thank you for reading, stay safe and take care.

Police have just issued an update regarding the alleged gunman’s family.

Police say Dezi Freeman’s partner and children attended a police station this evening.

“There is nothing to suggest they were ever in the company of the suspect following today’s incident,” police said in a statement.

Victorian opposition leader and former police officer Brad Battin said the killing of two police will impact on the thought processes of serving officers.

“They’ll think ‘can I approach that car? Am I safe in this position?’” Battin told 3AW earlier today.

“The impact for every single copper when this happens is absolutely astronomical.”

Battin said Melbourne should be lit up in blue colours to “highlight that fact that we are thinking about the police family”.

• Two police officers are dead and another injured after a shooting at a rural property in Porepunkah, about 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne and seven kilometres north-west of Bright about 10.30am on Tuesday.
• The alleged gunman, a 56-year-old conspiracy theorist named Dezi Freeman, remains at large.
• Victoria Police said 10 officers were at the property to execute a warrant when two were shot dead in an ambush.
• The two officers killed are a 59-year-old detective from Wangaratta and a 35-year-old officer from Melbourne.
• A detective, who was wounded in the upper-leg was taken by air ambulance to The Alfred hospital, where he underwent surgery and remains in a stable condition.
• Freeman was living on a bus on the property and is believed to be a “sovereign citizen”, a member of a radical group that follows conspiracy theories and believes the government is illegitimate. Freeman fled into the bush.
• Two police firearms were stolen from the fatally wounded officers, this masthead has been told.
• The whereabouts of Freeman’s wife and two children are unknown.
• Freeman expressed a hatred of police in the past and developed a profile among the radicalised anti-government community. He has been charged with several minor driving offences, some of which were thrown out.
• Police officials and politicians, including the prime minister, expressed their sorrow at the killings.
• Porepunkah locals were being advised to remain inside their homes and authorities are asking people to not visit the area.
• Locals reported a massive police presence in the area, and heavily armed officers from the special operations group were en route via helicopter.

Dezi Freeman is currently on the run from police after fleeing into the bush following his alleged killing of two police officers and injuring another.

Court documents show the 56-year-old has faced charges several times in the past.

Court documents show the Freeman appeared in Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on June 30, 2022, where he was fined $1200 and had his driver licence cancelled for two years. At the time Freeman was found to have refused a drug test, used a handheld device while driving, and driven between 10 and 25 kilometres over the speed limit in a 60 km/h zone.

On December 8, 2023, a matter was heard in his absence at Myrtleford Magistrates’ Court. Records show he was charged with travelling 71km/h in a 60km/h zone on June 3, 2023. He was fined $480 and ordered to pay about $90 in court costs.

On January 18, 2018, he faced Myrtleford Magistrates’ Court for another speeding offence. This time he pleaded not guilty to travelling 90km/h in an 80km/h zone at Tarrawingee years earlier on November 11, 2013. That charge was struck out.

At the same court on February 5, 2021, a charge of breaching a personal safety intervention order on June 2, 2019 was struck out.

NSW Police have confirmed extra resources have been sent across the border to help Victorian colleagues in the hunt for the alleged Porepunkah shooter.

However, police declined to offer more information, saying “no further details will be provided at this time”.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said in a press conference earlier today that state’s police chief has offered support to his Victorian counterpart.

“I know that Acting Commissioner [David] Hudson has spoken to his counterpart in Victoria and offered any support that they can give to the Victorian police as they hunt down this bastard,” Minns said.