{"id":182389,"date":"2025-08-28T12:20:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T12:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182389\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T12:20:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T12:20:15","slug":"police-offer-surrender-plan-to-dezi-freeman-as-fugitive-avoids-capture-for-another-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182389\/","title":{"rendered":"Police offer ‘surrender plan’ to Dezi Freeman as fugitive avoids capture for another day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alleged gunman Dezi Freeman has evaded police capture for a third day in Victoria’s alpine bushland, as an intensive manhunt continues.<\/p>\n

Mr Freeman is wanted by police over the shooting deaths of two police officers on Tuesday near the town of Porepunkah.<\/p>\n

The two officers killed \u2014 Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart<\/a> \u2014 were part of a team executing a warrant at Mr Freeman’s property relating to historical sex offences.<\/p>\n

After the alleged shooting at about 10:30am at the property on Rayner Track, police believe Mr Freeman entered the dense bushland around his property on foot.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An aerial image, captured in November 2024, of the alleged gunman’s Porepunkah property. (Supplied: Nearmap)<\/p>\n

On Thursday, police revealed they were still working on the theory that the 56-year-old fugitive was in the area.<\/p>\n

Mr Freeman was heavily armed with multiple weapons when he was last seen, and the public is warned not to approach him if he is spotted<\/p>\n

Police offer Freeman a way out<\/p>\n

Media attention has continued to swirl around Victoria’s north-east and the town of Porepunkah following the shootings.<\/p>\n

Superintendent Brett Kahan took the opportunity during a Thursday afternoon press conference to make a public plea towards the alleged gunman.<\/p>\n

“If Dezi Freeman is watching this, ring triple-0,” Superintendent Kahan said.<\/p>\n

“We will support a surrender plan, that option is open to him.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

The search area was lashed by strong wind and rain on Thursday (ABC News: Sacha Payne)<\/p>\n

He would not divulge what a surrender plan would look like, but said he hoped the situation would be resolved “safely”.<\/p>\n

Police also used the media presence to send out a stark warning to anyone considering collaborating with the fugitive.<\/p>\n

“What I would say to anyone in the community and say to anyone who may be considering harbouring or supporting him: they need to reconsider,” Deputy Commissioner of Regional Operations Russell Barrett said<\/p>\n

“They are committing a criminal offence, and we will prosecute them.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Roads leading to Mt Buffalo National Park remain closed as the manhunt continues. (ABC News: Sacha Payne)<\/p>\n

Police would not be drawn on how well supplied Mr Freeman is, or whether the experienced bushman had access to supply caches or resources in the wilderness.<\/p>\n

Blizzard forecast for Victorian alps<\/p>\n

The landscape where Dezi Freeman is believed to have escaped is rugged, heavily forested and mountainous.<\/p>\n

The terrain is also dotted with caves and mineshafts, providing serious challenges to police search teams.<\/p>\n

“It’s really difficult terrain, it’s complex terrain, it’s not something even that we with our specialist resources can move through quickly,” Superintendent Kahan said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Police say the challenging landscape near Porepunkah has slowed the search effort. (ABC News: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

To further complicate the search, conditions are expected to worsen in the coming days, with temperatures plummeting.<\/p>\n

A severe weather warning has been issued for the area, with blizzards forecast for parts of the eastern ranges above 1400m<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Damaging winds are also expected throughout Friday, with 15mm to 35mm of rain forecast for Porepunkah.<\/p>\n

Snow season warning<\/a><\/p>\n

Victoria’s alpine region braces for one of the season’s most significant snowfalls, amid the ongoing search for alleged police killer Dezi Freeman.<\/p>\n

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Angus Hines said there was also “plenty of snow on the way”.<\/p>\n

“One of the most widespread and significant amounts of snow that we’ve seen through the season so far is forecast to move in tomorrow [Friday],” he said.<\/p>\n

“And it’s going to come in with a whole other array of really wintry weather as well.<\/p>\n

“The higher peaks could easily see over 30cm, perhaps more than that, 40cm.”<\/p>\n

Police are urging anyone considering a ski trip in the alps to reconsider, given the danger that Mr Freeman presents.<\/p>\n

All resources made available: Premier<\/p>\n

Victoria Police have made it clear that no resource is being spared in the hunt for Dezi Freeman.<\/p>\n

Residents in Porepunkah were again greeted by the sight of armoured vehicles and camouflaged tactical teams near their town on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Police say Dezi Freeman has not been seen since Tuesday. (ABC News: Annie Brown)<\/p>\n

Schools reopened and residents were allowed to leave their homes, but police made it clear the danger had not abated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past two days, reporters near a police staging ground have reported loud bangs in the distance.<\/p>\n

Communities in the surrounding areas, including Wangaratta and Beechworth, have been sent repeated text messages with instructions to stay vigilant.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Regular warnings have been texted to residents near Porepunkah. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Premier Jacinta Allan said the state government will fund the search for Mr Freeman “for as long as necessary”.<\/p>\n

“Every support that Victoria Police need, we will provide,” Ms Allan said.<\/p>\n

Deputy Commissioner Barrett said Victoria Police was working on balancing the resources dedicated to the extensive manhunt with its regular duties.<\/p>\n

For example, large crowds are expected to descend on the Melbourne CBD on Sunday due to protests and planned counter-protests concerning the so-called March for Australia.<\/p>\n

Deputy Commissioner Barrett urged anyone considering attending a rally across Victoria over the weekend to reassess their reasons for doing so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alleged gunman Dezi Freeman has evaded police capture for a third day in Victoria’s alpine bushland, as an…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":177248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,101504,102720,54304,56183,29768,21183,83859,102719,50,7207,100523,66160,101,101503,102718],"class_list":{"0":"post-182389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-desmond-thilby","10":"tag-dezi","11":"tag-freeman","12":"tag-fugitive","13":"tag-gunman","14":"tag-killing","15":"tag-manhunt","16":"tag-neal-thompson","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-police","19":"tag-porepunkah","20":"tag-shooter","21":"tag-shooting","22":"tag-sovereign-citizen","23":"tag-vadim-de-waart"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115106364040720390","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}