Dezi Freeman was shot and killed by Victoria Police at a rural property in north-east Victoria on 30 March 2026 following a six-month manhunt. The incident occurred at approximately 8.30 am during an operation to locate him; no police officers were injured.
The death brings to a close one of Australia's most complex investigations. Freeman allegedly killed Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart on the morning of 26 August 2025 while attempting to execute a warrant at a property near Porepunkah, with a third officer injured.
Throughout the hunt, questions circled about how Freeman managed to evade capture across such challenging terrain. Freeman had hiked in Mount Buffalo National Park since he was 16 and was interested in bushcraft, with his son describing it as his second home. Survival experts suggested Freeman could remain in rugged Alpine bushland for weeks, depending on his level of training.
However, his survival raised uncomfortable questions for investigators. Days after the shooting, police stated they believed local community members were assisting Freeman avoid capture, and set up a site in the nearby town of Bright where members of the public could leave tips. Despite these suspicions, Freeman's wife Mali, who police have confirmed was present during the fatal shootings, and a 15-year-old boy were previously arrested but released without charge.
The scale of the search effort underscored the difficulty of locating him. Hundreds of police searched extensively in difficult terrain, including caves, mines, huts and rivers in Victoria's Mount Buffalo National Park. By December, investigators revealed they had shifted their search efforts to locating the body of the self-described sovereign citizen, however a five-day effort to scour the bush with cadaver dogs and drones yielded nothing.
The manhunt's conclusion offers limited clarity on critical questions. Whether Freeman received material assistance from sympathisers, how he sustained himself for seven months, and what role community members played remain subjects for investigation and ongoing scrutiny. There was an appeal to encourage the person to come out. Freeman chose confrontation instead.