Australian authorities announced on Monday that they had ended a seven-month manhunt for Desmond Freeman, one of the country’s most-wanted fugitives. Freeman was wanted for shooting and killing two police officers during a search at his rural home in Victoria state last August.
The pursuit involved hundreds of police personnel navigating through rugged terrain across multiple states. They finally tracked Freeman to a remote property in rural Victoria where he was apprehended after refusing to surrender, according to Police Commissioner Mike Bush.
Bush stated that the shooting was justified as it provided an opportunity for Freeman to surrender peacefully which he did not do. The state coroner will now confirm the identity of the body and cause of death.
Residents of Thologolong, near the border of New South Wales and Victoria states, told AFP that Freeman had been shot at a property there. They noted that the place is off-grid entirely and requires specific knowledge to access it.
Freeman was known locally as a conspiracy theorist and member of the sovereign citizen movement, which believes they are not subject to law enforcement. In court documents, he referred to police as “frigging Nazis,” “Gestapo,” and “terrorist thugs.”
The manhunt involved helicopters, dog squads from New Zealand, and around 450 officers making it one of Australia’s largest operations ever. Freeman was offered a AU$1 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Freeman opened fire on police as they raided his home in Porepunkah last August, killing two officers – Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart. A third officer was wounded. The Police Association of Victoria condemned the cowardice but praised the bravery of those who pursued Freeman.
The reason for the search warrant remains undisclosed but involved members from both sexual offences and child investigation squads. Prior to this incident, the last time an Australian police officer was killed on duty was in 2023 in South Australia, and two were killed by Christian extremists in Queensland in 2022.