Australian police told an on-the-run gunman accused of killing two officers to “lay down your firearms” Friday, as they hunted him for a fourth day in rugged, forested bushland.
The heavily armed 56-year-old suspect, Dezi Freeman, fled into the bush Tuesday after opening fire on a team of 10 police officers at his home in the northeast of Victoria state.
The “horrific” shooting in the rural town of Porepunkah killed 59-year-old detective Neal Thompson and 35-year-old senior constable Vadim De Waart, police said.
A third officer was wounded in the lower body and was scheduled to undergo surgery for a second time, but was expected to recover, they said.
“The number one priority for the Victoria police is the hunt for this murderer,” state police chief commissioner Mike Bush told a news conference.
“We believe he is and remains armed and dangerous.”
More than 450 police officers were dedicated to the investigation and search for Freeman, who was believed to have bush survival skills and a good knowledge of the area.
“If that person is listening, it really is time to lay down your firearms and give yourself up, so that we can all bring this to a safe conclusion,” Bush said.
Australian media say the gunman is a radicalised conspiracy theorist and part of the “sovereign citizen” movement that believes laws do not apply to them.
Police raided a property and arrested the gunman’s 42-year-old partner and 15-year-old son late Thursday as part of their investigation into the killings.
Both were released after being questioned, police said.
– Fatal shootings rare –
Anyone seeking to help the man elude the police would be committing a criminal offence, Bush warned.
Police say officers went to the man’s property on Tuesday morning to execute a search warrant.
Though the cause for the search warrant has not been released, police said the team at his home included members of the sexual offences and child investigation squad.
During the shootout, police fired at the suspect but apparently did not wound him, they said.
Deadly shootings are relatively rare in Australia, and police fatalities even rarer.
The latest gunshot death listed in a national memorial to fallen police showed one officer shot and killed in 2023.
A ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons has been in place in Australia since a 1996 mass shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in which a lone gunman killed 35 people.
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