Fugitive Dezi Freeman shot dead by Australian police after months on the run, reports say
Nine/A Current Affair
Australian fugitive Dezi Freeman has been shot dead by police after seven months on the run, local media has reported.
In August, Freeman, 56, allegedly shot dead two police officers on his property in the small Victorian town of Porepunkah before fleeing into dense bushland and evading extensive searches.
Victorian police on Monday said a man had been fatally shot at a rural property in north-east Victoria shortly after 08:30 local time, as part of efforts to find Freeman.
No police officers were hurt during the shooting, police said. The state coroner will attend the scene.
Freeman, a well-known conspiracy theorist, allegedly shot dead Detective Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart after police went to his home on 26 August with a search warrant as part of a child sex abuse investigation.
In a statement shortly after Monday’s shooting, the Police Association of Victoria said Freeman’s death was a “step forward”.
“Closure isn’t the right word,” the statement said, adding that it “doesn’t lessen the trauma” of the two police officers’ deaths.
Authorities will launch an investigation into Monday’s shooting as part of the standard process after a police shooting.
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