In Brief
- Dezi Freeman had been on the run for seven months following the fatal shooting of two police officers in rural Victoria.
- Victoria Police chief commissioner Mike Bush says the man believed to be Freeman will now be formally identified.
The fatal shooting of a man believed to be Dezi Freeman on Monday morning followed a three-hour standoff with police, according to Victoria Police chief commissioner Mike Bush.
"The standoff commenced early this morning when we made an appeal for the person inside that premises to come out," Bush told reporters.
The shooting, which police said took place just after 8.30am at a rural property in north-east Victoria, came more than seven months after the killing of two police officers near the small town of Porepunkah.
No police were injured during Monday's operation. Bush said the man did not take an opportunity to surrender peacefully, and police "strongly believe" that he was armed.
Bush said police had not yet determined at what point Freeman moved from the Porepunkah area to the location where he was found in a structure described as a cross between a shipping container and a long caravan.
Bush said police would not confirm the man's identity until it was determined in a formal identification process. That should take place within 24 to 48 hours, he said.
ABC News said it understands the man is Freeman.
Police hope the development concludes an operation that required what Bush described as "probably the most considerable investment in police resources we have ever seen".
It saw involvement of police from every state and territory, as well as New Zealand, he said, in "one of the most ... largely resourced police operations in history".
Bush said the incident would help to bring closure to the families of the officers killed last year.
"The very first people to be made aware of the outcome of this operation were the families of the officers tragically killed on the 26th of August and all of the members that were involved on that day," Bush said.
"This brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible event."
A professional standards command and coroner's investigation will be undertaken into the matter.
Bush said he was confident at this point that Monday morning's shooting was "justified".
Manhunt lasted more than seven months
Freeman had been on the run since the fatal shooting of police officers Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart on 26 August.
The officers were among a team serving a warrant at Freeman's home near Porepunkah.
Freeman allegedly fled into dense bushland near his home after the incident, and had not been seen since.
In the following months, hundreds of police searched extensively in difficult terrain, including caves, mines, huts and rivers in Victoria's Mount Buffalo National Park.
In 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.
Detective senior Constable Thompson, 59, was just a week away from retiring, while senior constable de Waart-Hottart, 34, was on temporary assignment to the area.
The Police Association Victoria said Monday's news marked a step forward for its members, and served as a "sobering reminder that policing happens while you sleep, when the media spotlight on an investigation dims and when everything seems lost and forgotten".
"Closure isn't the right word. This represents a step forward for our members, for the families of our fallen members and for the community," a spokesperson said.
"It doesn't 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."
"RIP Vadim and Neal. Today, we remember you."
Victoria Police had offered a $1 million reward and the possibility of indemnity for information leading to Freeman's capture, the largest financial offer in the state's history for facilitating an arrest.
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.
— With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
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