Australian police say they have shot and killed a man believed to be Dezi Freeman, the suspect in the fatal shooting of two police officers last year, following a tense three-hour standoff in a remote region of Victoria state.
Authorities said the confrontation occurred on Monday near Thologolong, a remote area roughly two hours north of Porepunkah in northeastern Victoria. The man, believed to be Freeman, was inside a structure described as similar to a shipping container when heavily armed Special Operations Group tactical officers surrounded the site.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush told reporters that officers attempted to resolve the situation peacefully and offered the suspect a chance to surrender. However, the standoff ended when police opened fire.
“This was all about bringing this to a conclusion as safely as possible. Our ultimate goal was to arrest the person there as peacefully as possible,” Bush said.
Police said formal identification is still underway and could take up to 48 hours, though authorities strongly believe the man killed was the 56-year-old fugitive. Methods such as fingerprinting will be used to confirm his identity.
Freeman had not been seen publicly since August 26 last year, when he allegedly opened fire on officers who arrived at his property near Porepunkah to serve a warrant. Two officers were killed in the attack and a third was seriously wounded, prompting a massive search across Victoria’s alpine forest region.
Investigators said Freeman held so-called sovereign citizen beliefs, an ideology that challenges the legitimacy of government authority and legal systems. According to police, he also had extensive wilderness survival skills that raised fears he could remain hidden in remote terrain for long periods.
The suspect, a disabled pensioner who had changed his family name from Filby, had previously attracted media attention due to unusual legal confrontations. In 2019 he attempted unsuccessfully to arrest a magistrate, and in 2021 a court rejected his attempt to prosecute the then-Victorian premier for treason.
In recent months, investigators had begun to suspect Freeman might have taken his own life due to the absence of confirmed sightings. Police declined to say whether a tip-off led them to the location on Monday.
Authorities had previously offered a reward of 1 million Australian dollars, about $678,000 US, for information leading to Freeman’s capture.
