brisbane, australia —
One of the largest manhunts ever carried out in Australia has ended with the shooting death of a fugitive believed by authorities to be Desi Freeman, a self-proclaimed “sovereign citizen” who had been on the run for seven months after killing two police officers.
Freeman disappeared into the dense wilderness of rural Victoria state in Australia in August last year after firing at police officers who tried to serve a search warrant on his property for suspected sex crimes.
Hundreds of police officers, dogs and helicopters spent days and weeks searching the area around the small town of Porepanka. Residents there had been living on edge for months, fearing that a “heavily armed” Freeman was hiding nearby.
The man, believed to be Freeman, was shot and killed by police after a three-hour standoff in a rural area in the state’s northeast, where officers surrounded a “long caravan” building, and was only found on Monday morning, law enforcement said.
“He had the opportunity to surrender peacefully and he did not do so,” Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush said, adding he “strongly believes” the man was armed.
President Bush said an investigation was underway to determine why police fired their weapons, but that his information suggested the shooting of the fugitive was “justified.”
Formal identification is underway, but President Bush said that if Freeman is identified, it would “bring closure to a tragic and horrifying event.” He said the families of two police officers killed last August were the first to be informed of Monday’s shooting. He is led by Senior Constable Neil Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart Hottart.
Experts say the killings of the two police officers are an example of how the American sovereignty movement has taken root in Australia and is now threatening violence.
Sovereign peoples do not believe that their laws apply to them and commonly deploy pseudo-laws to challenge the authority of police, lawyers, judges, and other representatives of institutions that they claim are illegal and corrupt.
Freeman, formerly known as Desmond Philby, was known to authorities to have lashed out at police for years, calling them “Nazis” and “terrorist thugs” in evidence given to the court in an attempt to overturn his 2020 traffic offense conviction.
The search for him involved officers from every Australian state and territory, with additional enforcement from New Zealand, and a massive police operation tracking him with more than 2,000 leads.
The person believed to have been found about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the August crime scene shooting has raised questions about how he got there and whether he received help.
“I think there were some people who actually helped him get away from Polepanka to where he was. But that’s a very important part of determining that next, and if anyone was complicit, they’ll be held accountable,” Bush said.
Police previously said they “strongly” believed Freeman was dead, but would not say Monday whether a tip led investigators to Freeman’s location.
“There were many indications that Freeman took his own life, but I can stand here and say that our investigators…our experts are following every possible lead with every possible outcome in mind,” Bush said.
The Victoria Police Association said Ms Freeman’s death was a “step forward” for its members, the families of deceased members and the community.
“Today, we do not mourn the loss of a coward. We do not forget the bravery and bravery of our fallen members and all of the police officers who tenaciously pursued this accomplishment for their communities.”
