{"id":80163,"date":"2026-08-25T16:02:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/80163\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T16:02:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:02:37","slug":"wangaratta-memorial-for-two-police-officers-killed-in-porepunkah-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/80163\/","title":{"rendered":"Wangaratta memorial for two police officers killed in Porepunkah shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two police officers who lost their lives in a dramatic siege in Porepunkah last year have been remembered at a service in Wangaratta ahead of the one-year anniversary of the shooting.<\/p>\n

Police colleagues and dignitaries were among hundreds of attendees who gathered to unveil a monument to Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, who were shot dead by Dezi Freeman last August.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Photos and mementos honouring Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart at Wangaratta Police Station. (ABC Goulburn Murray: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

Police Commissioner Mike Bush said the result of the mission to “hold an alleged paedophile to account” was “an absolute tragedy” and “one of the most tragic days in Victoria Police history”.<\/p>\n

“We will never forget our colleagues who made that ultimate sacrifice,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The service included personal reflections from police colleagues, the unveiling of a memorial garden and the laying of wreaths.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Mike Bush described last year’s fatal siege as one of the most tragic days in Victoria Police’s history. (ABC Goulburn Murray: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

The rain held off as the service concluded with a video of police monuments across the country lit in blue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Police Ode was read out, before a minute’s silence and a flyover by the Victoria Police Air Wing.<\/p>\n

The pipes echoed amongst a sombre but resilient crowd in prayer, asking Victorians to never forget the men’s courage and strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Purple,<\/p>\n

A floral tribute from Neal Thompson’s partner Lisa.\u00a0 (ABC Goulburn Murray: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

A plaque commemorating the two officers was placed between two 3-tonne obelisks which have been sourced from Barjarg.<\/p>\n

Neal Thompson’s friend and colleague Paul Campbell said the memorial was fitting.<\/p>\n

“It’s real, it’s natural and it’s strong, just like Thommo.”\"A<\/p>\n

The memorial unveiled at Wangaratta Police Station. (ABC Goulburn Murray: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

Family members of the two officers attended the service, including Mr Thompson’s partner, Sergeant Lisa Thompson and his sisters Lois and Diane.<\/p>\n

Vadim de Waart-Hottart’s aunt and uncle were also present.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The flags at Wangaratta Police Station were at half-mast. (ABC Goulburn Murray: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

A number of wreaths were laid at the memorial including from the Australian Red Cross.<\/p>\n

Victorian director Nichola Krey said Red Cross volunteers had preserved flowers and cards from the many floral tributes brought by the community at the time of the shooting.<\/p>\n

A book made from the cards was presented to the families of the fallen police officers, while the flowers were scattered at the memorial.<\/p>\n

Ms Krey said she hoped today’s service would bring some closure and peace.<\/p>\n

“I hope they will be eternally remembered, and I have no doubt they will be.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two police officers who lost their lives in a dramatic siege in Porepunkah last year have been remembered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1190,22,21,1371,124934,116409,11019,1377,1372,92835],"class_list":["post-80163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-anniversary","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-neal-thompson","tag-police-comissioner-mike-bush","tag-police-memorial","tag-police-shooting","tag-porepunkah","tag-vadim-de-waart-hottart","tag-wangaratta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}