A large-scale manhunt is underway in Australia's Victoria state after two police officers were killed and a third was seriously injured in what authorities are calling an ambush. About 10 officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant, reportedly related to sex offenses, at a rural property in Porepunkah, about 180 miles northeast of Melbourne, on Monday morning when they were fired upon without warning, said Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush, per the BBC. A 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable were killed. A third officer was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries.
Police say the "heavily armed" suspect, who lived with his wife and two children in a bus on the property, fled alone on foot into the nearby bushland, per the Guardian. Authorities have deployed hundreds of personnel and a helicopter in the search, advising residents of this usually quiet town of 1,000 to stay indoors. Authorities are also seeking to locate the wife and children of the suspect, identified in local media as 56-year-old Dezi Freeman. He reportedly subscribes to "sovereign citizen" beliefs—an ideology that rejects governmental authority.
Police have noted a resurgence in such views, partly attributed to increased mistrust in government since the pandemic. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese now says the threat of "sovereign citizens" and "far-right extremism" must be taken seriously, per the Independent. Albanese and others have compared the shooting to a 2022 Queensland ambush that also killed two police officers. The Guardian has more on that incident here.
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