{"id":57867,"date":"2026-03-30T18:37:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T18:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/popularnews.pw\/?page_id=57867"},"modified":"2026-03-30T18:37:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T18:37:31","slug":"final-moments-caught-on-camera-just-before-shots-were-fired-dezi-freeman-was-found-after-seven-months-on-the-run-hidden-inside-a-remote-container-in-victoria","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/popularnews.pw\/?page_id=57867","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFINAL MOMENTS CAUGHT ON CAMERA\u2026 JUST BEFORE SHOTS WERE FIRED\u201d Dezi Freeman was found after seven months on the run \u2014 hidden inside a remote container in Victoria \u2014 but what happened next is now under intense focus. Police say the standoff lasted hours\u2026 with repeated calls for him to surrender."},"content":{"rendered":"

Fugitive Dezi Freeman has been shot dead by heavily armed police in Australia\u2019s Victoria state after refusing to surrender, ending a seven-month manhunt.<\/p>\n

Freeman, 56, was shot shortly after 8.30am on Monday following a three-hour police standoff, after he was found inside a structure near Walwa, about 116miles north-east of Porepunkah, where he went missing on August 26, 2025.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

He had been on the run since he fatally shot Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 34, and injured a third officer at Porepunkah, about 186miles north-east of\u00a0Melbourne<\/span>, on August 26.<\/p>\n

Cops were sent to his property amid an investigation into sex offences.<\/p>\n

Freeman was a skilled outdoorsman with extensive bush skills, whose real name was Desmond Filby.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

He was part of the so-called \u2018sovereign citizen\u2019 movement, an anti-government ideology that rejects all state authority and laws.<\/p>\n

The Daily Mail understands police tried to negotiate with the sovereign citizen before he was killed.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Victoria Police had received a tip-off \u2018from someone close to him\u2019 before locating him.<\/p>\n

\u2018A man has been fatally shot by police at a property in northeast Victoria this morning as part of the operation to locate Desmond Freeman,\u2019 a spokesman said.<\/p>\n

\u2018No police officers were injured during the incident.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sources said a Filipino couple had been harbouring him on a property in Thologolong, with aerial images showing a completely off-grid site, including a handful of structures similar to shipping containers, and several disused vehicles.<\/p>\n

\n

Fugitive Dezi Freeman has been shot dead after seven months on the run after reportedly being found inside a shipping container near Walwa, 116miles from Porepunkah<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Sources<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sources said a Filipino couple had been harbouring Freeman on a property in Thologolong, with aerial images showing a completely off-grid site, including a handful of structures similar to shipping containers, and several disused vehicles<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Daily<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Daily Mail understand police tried to negotiate with the sovereign citizen before he was killed<\/p>\n

Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush said Freeman was believed to be armed when officers shot him and had been located inside a structure described as \u2018a cross between a container and a very long caravan\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018We are examining the sequence of events and we will be able to report on that, but it\u00a0did result from a stand-off, the deployment of tactics,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018He then exited the building. There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully which he did not.\u2019<\/p>\n

Commissioner Bush said\u00a0no one else was on the property at the time of the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s a very remote community,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018To my knowledge, no one else was in the immediate vicinity, but there may have been people in the wider vicinity.<\/p>\n

\u2018There are vehicles there. Whether he used them or not will be part of the investigation.\u2019<\/p>\n

There were no animals on the property.<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Porepunkah property where Dezi Freeman shot and killed two Victoria Police officers<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Commissioner Bush added there\u00a0were still questions to be answered about Freeman\u2019s timeline.<\/p>\n

\u2018We don\u2019t know at what point he left the Porepunkah area and transferred to where he was found,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Anyone living in the wider area will be spoken to by police.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Bush said the \u2018shooting was justified\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018The very first people to be made aware of the outcome of this operation were the families of the officers tragically killed on August 26, and all of the members that were involved on that day,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018There was a lot to suggest that Freeman had taken his own life. But\u00a0I can tell you standing here that our investigators, that\u2019s why they\u2019re professionals, keep their mind open to every possible outcome and follow every possible lead.<\/p>\n

\u2018What I can say \u2013 should it be confirmed that the deceased is Freeman, is this brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible event.\u2019<\/p>\n

Police are now working to determine how he evaded capture for so long \u2013 and whether others helped him.<\/p>\n

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\"Freeman<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Freeman shot dead Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018We are very keen to learn who, if any, but I\u2019m sure some, assisted him,\u2019 Commissioner Bush said.<\/p>\n

\u2018If anyone was complicit\u2026 they will be held to account.\u2019<\/p>\n

Police\u00a0Association Victoria secretary\u00a0Wayne Gatt said the shooting was a \u2018step forward\u2019 for the force.<\/p>\n

\u2018Our members said they would find him. They did,\u2019 Mr Gatt said on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u2018Closure isn\u2019t the right word. This represents a step forward for our members, for the families of our fallen members and for the community.<\/p>\n

\u2018It doesn\u2019t lessen the trauma, give back the futures that were callously stolen, or lessen the collective fear and grief that this tragic event has instilled in police and the wider public.\u2019<\/p>\n

He continued: \u2018Today, we won\u2019t reflect on the loss of a coward. We will remember\u00a0the courage and bravery of our fallen members and every officer that has doggedly pursued this outcome for the community.<\/p>\n

\u2018They have worked tirelessly. During the emergency, in the operation that followed and the months thereafter, members across the state have devoted themselves to this singular pursuit.<\/p>\n

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\"Freeman<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Freeman also shot dead Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 34<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Freeman<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Freeman had been a sovereign citizen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018Days like today offer a sobering reminder that policing happens while you sleep, when the media spotlight on an investigation dims and when everything seems lost and forgotten. RIP Vadim and Neal. Today, we remember you.\u2019<\/p>\n

The search for Dezi Freeman\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freeman was last seen armed and fleeing into bushland near his Rayner\u00a0Track property after the fatal shootings on August 26, 2025.<\/p>\n

The shot officers were among a group of ten who had attended Freeman\u2019s property to serve a warrant over historical sex abuse allegations.<\/p>\n

The shootings sparked a massive manhunt, with hundreds of officers scouring bushland in and around Freeman\u2019s remote hideout beneath Mount Buffalo.<\/p>\n

Search crews combed steep, rocky terrain littered with caves and mineshafts but found no trace of him.<\/p>\n

More than 100 homes and properties were searched as police investigated whether anyone was helping Freeman evade arrest.<\/p>\n

Police also offered one of the largest rewards in Australia, promising\u00a0$1million for information leading to his capture.<\/p>\n

Early in the investigation, Freeman\u2019s wife Mali, who police confirmed was present during the fatal shootings, and a 15-year-old boy were arrested on allegations of obstructing police, but were later released without charge.<\/p>\n

Several days later, Mali issued a statement urging her husband to surrender.<\/p>\n

\n
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\"Dezi<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Dezi Freeman alongside his wife Mali<\/p>\n

Who was Dezi Freeman?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freeman subscribed to so\u2011called sovereign citizen ideology and was receiving Centrelink payments in the lead\u2011up to\u00a0the fatal shooting.<\/p>\n

Followers of the movement typically deny the legitimacy of government authority and argue that laws do not apply to them.<\/p>\n

Freeman\u2019s views became more extreme during the Covid pandemic, when he refused to wear masks in shops, rejected vaccinations, and became increasingly vocal in his opposition to government mandates and lockdowns.<\/p>\n

\u2018He was anti everything to do with it,\u2019 one local told the Sydney Morning Herald.<\/p>\n

\u2018He went from being just a pretty ordinary country bloke\u2026 a normal dude you\u2019d see at the local footy club all the time to quite a strange bloke. He fell down\u00a0a bit of a rabbit hole and sort of disappeared and went off the radar.\u2019<\/p>\n

Freeman spent years in and out of court, mostly contesting driving offences, often arguing the laws did not apply to him because of his sovereign citizen beliefs.<\/p>\n

\n
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\"Police<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Police deployed hundreds of officers to try and track down Dezi Freeman<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In 2021, he was linked to an effort to have then\u2011Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews charged with treason.<\/p>\n

Footage captured Freeman during a November 2024 court appearance in Wangaratta attempting to \u2018arrest\u2019 a magistrate and police officers during a dispute over access to a national park.<\/p>\n

He also called\u00a0called police \u2018frigging Nazis\u2019, \u2018Gestapo\u2019 and \u2018terrorist thugs\u2019<\/span>\u00a0and relentlessly\u00a0targeted a female officer because she pulled him over for speeding.<\/p>\n

Freeman lived in the Porepunkah area for years with his wife Mali and their children, and the family was known locally.<\/p>\n

Mali had worked in a supermarket and also taught music to children in the community.<\/p>\n

Neighbour Zar Saccutelli told Daily Mail he had long feared Freeman would turn violent, claiming he once threatened to kill his teenage son if he didn\u2019t stop riding his motorbike.<\/p>\n

\u2018I said to my sister, \u2018This guy is a nutcase. He is going to kill someone one day\u2026 he\u2019ll shoot someone\u2019,\u2019 he revealed.<\/p>\n

Saccutelli said that despite publicly attacking police, Freeman repeatedly called them over minor neighbourhood issues, including early-morning construction noise and small disputes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fugitive Dezi Freeman has been shot dead by heavily armed police in Australia\u2019s Victoria state after refusing to surrender, ending a seven-month manhunt. Freeman, 56, was shot… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57868,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-57867","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cFINAL MOMENTS CAUGHT ON CAMERA\u2026 JUST BEFORE SHOTS WERE FIRED\u201d Dezi Freeman was found after seven months on the run \u2014 hidden inside a remote container in Victoria \u2014 but what happened next is now under intense focus. 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