Porepunkah shooting LIVE updates: Search for Dezi Freeman enters seventh day after wife’s desperate plea

3 months ago 24

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5.52am

Man charged as police probe links to Dezi Freeman

On Sunday morning, a 61-year-old man was charged with possessing an imitation firearm after he was arrested during the search for Freeman.

Mount Buffalo National Park remains closed as the search for Dezi Freeman enters its sixth day.

Officers allegedly seized weapons and cannabis on Friday while executing a search warrant at a home in Bright, about seven kilometres from Porepunkah.

The 61-year-old was arrested at the property and has since been charged with possessing a prohibited imitation firearm and possessing a drug of dependence. He will appear before the Myrtleford Magistrates’ Court on October 3

5.47am

Freeman attended Mass days before shootings

By Carolyn Webb

Dezi Freeman was a churchgoer who attended Mass just days before he allegedly shot dead two police officers, according to locals.

But yesterday local Catholics found their Sunday Mass cancelled, with the church locked and the parish priest nowhere to be found.

Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in Bright, which Dezi Freeman often attended, was closed on Sunday.

Read Carolyn Webb’s full report here.

5.42am

Wife of fugitive Dezi Freeman speaks out

The search for Dezi Freeman has now entered its seventh day and his wife, Amalia “Mali” Freeman, has issued a public statement urging him to turn himself in.

In a statement released through her lawyer on Sunday, Mali Freeman expressed her sorrow over the deaths of two police officers, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, who were allegedly killed by her husband last Tuesday.

Amalia (Mali) Freeman, Dezi Freeman’s wife. Composite

Amalia Freeman, who was arrested and later released with her 15-year-old son last Thursday, also addressed the anti-authority views reportedly held by her husband.

Read her full statement here:

5.29am

How the shooting unfolded

5.28am

What we know

Dezi Freeman remains the subject of a massive manhunt in Victoria’s High Country after he allegedly killed Detective Leading Senior Constable Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart, 35.
Freeman, 56, is accused of shooting dead Thompson and de Waart and injuring a third officer while being served a warrant on Tuesday.
Freeman fled into dense bushland following the alleged ambush, and has not been sighted since.
On Sunday, Mali Freeman, urged her husband to surrender and anyone harbouring him to come forward to the police.
Also on Sunday, a 61-year-old man was charged with possessing an imitation firearm after he was arrested during the search for Freeman.
More than 450 police have been deployed to Porepunkah to aid in the search for Freeman across farmland and through thick forested areas near Mount Buffalo.

Mount Buffalo National Park is closed as police hunt the alleged gunman.

5.22am

Welcome to our live coverage

Good morning, we are continuing our live coverage of the shooting in Porepunkah today.

The search for Dezi Freeman, who was born Desmond Filby, is entering its seventh day after he allegedly executed two policemen and wounded a third in an ambush attack at a remote farm near Porepunkah on Tuesday morning.

Freeman fled into dense bushland following the alleged ambush and has not been seen since.