A chilling series of images released by Victoria Police have laid bare the grim reality of the nation’s largest-ever tactical manhunt, now entering its third week, as officers scour the rugged northeast for alleged cop killer and sovereign citizen Dezi Freeman.
In one photograph, a specialist officer lies flat in front of a tunnel, weapon poised as he peers into the void. In another, an officer kneels beneath a bush-covered cave, while a third captures three officers crouched together inside a claustrophobic rock cavern.
The photos, released on Sunday, reveal the brutal conditions facing the hundreds of police who have been deployed since August 26, when Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 34, were shot dead on a rural property near Porepunkah. A third officer was wounded in the same ambush that has rocked Victoria’s law enforcement community and shaken the nation.
Freeman (also known as Desmond Filby) fled into dense bushland after the attack. Since then, hundreds of specialist officers from across Australia and New Zealand have fanned out across mountain ridges, rivers, caves and abandoned mine shafts in what Acting Deputy Commissioner Russell Barrett has described as “the largest tactical policing operation in Australian history”.
“Over 125 specialist detectives scoured and searched an area in the immediate vicinity of Freeman’s location,” Barrett said. “This included extremely rugged areas, by crawling through caves, by traversing rivers and walls, by searching plantations and gorges. It’s an extensive area, really difficult terrain.”
Despite more than 1,100 tips and a $1 million reward on offer, the fugitive has so far evaded capture. Barrett admitted police were exploring “all options” about Freeman’s fate: “He may be in the area, he may be harboured, he may be dead. The investigation will never end. We will always look for him until he is located.”
The police lifted a travel warning for Porepunkah on Sunday, allowing the community to return to “a state of normality,” though officers continue their sweeping search through the surrounding bush.
The tragedy of August 26 continues to cast a shadow. Last week, hundreds of officers gathered at the Victorian Police Academy to farewell the fallen constables in services broadcast nationwide. A candle burned in the centre of the chapel for Constable Thompson, a symbol, Senior Police Chaplain Drew Mellow said, of his “light, love and legacy”. Thousands more watched online, united in grief.
As the manhunt enters its 20th day, Victoria Police remain determined.
Images: Victoria Police
