Double cop-killer Dezi Freeman was shot dead by an elite specialist police crew after he was tracked down to his rural lair, before firing on cops with a gun he stole from one of his victims.

Victoria Police Special Operations Group shot Freeman dead at 8.30am on Monday following a three-hour standoff.

It was revealed Freeman, 56, was hiding out on a Thologolong property, near Walwa, which is about 188km northeast of Porepunkah.

He was found at Tholo Farm, which boasts on Google ‘Cookers welcome’, and is owned by Rick Sutherland, currently on holiday in Tasmania, whose brother Neil, lives nearby.

He revealed how he had heard the police helicopter arrive at the scene about 5am, as the deadly police standoff began.

‘I heard a chopper turn up, doing tight circles, tight laps,’ Neil told the ABC. ‘I heard a shot but didn’t really know what was going on.’

The local farmer later heard police using megaphones to coax Freeman out of his lair before a single gunshot was heard when the fugitive was killed by police.

The Thologolong local revealed a mysterious campfire or bonfire had been spotted two months earlier in the same paddock where Freeman was finally found

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Cop killer Dezi Freeman was shot dead by an elite specialist police crew on Monday

Freeman had fled Porepunkah on August 26 after he fatally shot Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 34.He had been on the run or feared dead ever since, until a Thologolong local is believed to have spotted Freeman at his camp and alerted police over the weekend.

A specialist squad was quickly mobilised and sent to the converted shipping container/caravan where he was hiding out.

They sealed off the immediate area and patiently waited overnight before launching their raid on Freeman’s lair just before dawn.

It’s understood the Special Operations Group deployed flash-bang stun grenades to disorient Freeman as the standoff began, before he eventually opened fire on police using the pistol he stole from detective Leading Senior Constable Thompson.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush confirmed an elite team of ‘professionals’ shot and killed Freeman after he was offered the chance to surrender.

Commissioner Bush said the standoff began about 5.30am and Freeman was offered every opportunity to hand himself in.

But he said police were left with no choice but to gun him down in a ‘justified shooting’ three hours later.

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Freeman, 56, was killed at a Thologolong property, near Walwa, which is about 188km northeast of Porepunkah

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Tholo Farm (above) where Freeman was shot dead on Monday morning

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Neil Sutherland said he heard the police chopper go up at 5am

The top cop said it was ‘quite possible’ Freeman fired bullets at the specialist police team which had swarmed the rural property to ‘conclude the investigation’ as safely as possible.

‘There was an appeal to encourage the person to come out, we’re examining the sequence of events,’ Commissioner Bush said.

‘There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not. We strongly believe, yet to be confirmed, that he was armed.’

Commissioner Bush added Monday’s operation was ‘about bringing this to a conclusion as peacefully as possible’.

‘We don’t have any role in how they react,’ Commissioner Bush said before adding the aim had been to apprehend Freeman and bring him in alive.

Commissioner Bush would not confirm whether a tip-off led police to the remote property where Freeman had been lurking inside a long-caravan/shipping container-type lair.

He also wouldn’t comment on any claims to the $1million bounty offered to capture Freeman dead or alive.

Commissioner Bush confirmed police continue to investigate if anyone had been helping Freeman, and how long he was in the area before he was shot and killed.

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It was revealed Freeman, 56, was hiding out on a Thologolong property, near Walwa, which is about 188km northeast of Porepunkah

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Freeman had been on the run since August 26

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A vehicle on the property where Freeman was killed

Commissioner Bush also confirmed no one else was present inside the ‘property boundary’ but everyone in that ‘environment’ will be interviewed.

‘To my knowledge, no one else was in the immediate vicinity, but there may have been people in the wider vicinity,’ Commissioner Bush said.

‘There are vehicles there. Whether he used them or not will be part of the investigation.’

Police are also probing how long Freeman had been in Porepunkah and how he managed to get so far away without detection.

‘I am sure some assisted him in getting away from Porepunkah to where he is located,’ Commissioner Bush said.

‘We are very keen to learn who, if any, but I’m sure some, assisted him. If anyone was complicit… they will be held to account.’

No one has been taken into custody, but Bush said anyone ‘complicit’ in Freeman’s hiding would face charges.

Commissioner Bush said police will also speak to Freeman’s family as part of their investigation.

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Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush confirmed an elite team of ‘professionals’ shot and killed Freeman after the fugitive was offered a peaceful surrender

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An aerial view of the site of Freeman’s final stand

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Daily Mail understands police tried to negotiate with the sovereign citizen before he was killed

The top cop said a ‘very large team’ had been involved in the operation on Monday, and that investigations continue.

‘There was a lot to suggest that Freeman had taken his own life (before today),’ he said.

‘But I can tell you standing here that our investigators, that’s why they’re professionals, keep their mind open to every possible outcome and follow every possible lead.’

However, as predicted by many in the Victoria sovereign citizen network, Freeman went down in a blaze of gunfire.

‘I confirm that this morning Victoria Police, as a result of an operation in the north-east of Victoria, fatally shot a man,’ Commissioner Bush said.

‘Whilst it’s being reported that person is Desmond Freeman, we have to run through a very formal identification process.’

He added that there was ‘lots to be done’ in the investigation but crucial police resources will now be redirected into tackling other serious crime plaguing the state.

‘Everything I know at this point tells me this shooting was justified,’ Commissioner Bush said.

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It’s believed Freeman was hiding in that blue container (above)

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Police deployed hundreds of officers to try and track down Dezi Freeman

‘The very first people to be made aware of the outcome of this operation were the families of the officers tragically killed on 26 August, and all of the members that were involved on that day.

‘Should it be confirmed that the deceased is Freeman, this brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible event.’

Bush later confirmed police believe they had taken down Freeman but needed to go through a formal identification process before officially naming the fugitive cop killer.

The top cop also said the manhunt was ‘probably the most significant investment of police resources in the state’s history’.

He said police received more than 2000 leads while an elite specialist crew glided off the radar as it remained prepared to capture Freeman.

Bush, who said he will visit the scene of Freeman’s final stand later today, said it ‘was a very diligent, professional operation’.

Earlier today, Victoria Police confirmed ‘no police officers were injured during the incident’.

Freeman was last seen armed and fleeing into bushland near his Rayner Track property after the fatal shootings on August 26, 2025.

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Early in the investigation, Freeman’s wife Mali, was arrested on allegations of obstructing police, but was later released without charge

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Freeman had been a sovereign citizen

The shot officers were among a group of ten who had attended Freeman’s property to serve a warrant over historical sex abuse allegations.

The shootings sparked a massive manhunt, with hundreds of officers scouring bushland in and around Freeman’s remote hideout beneath Mount Buffalo.

Search crews combed steep, rocky terrain littered with caves and mineshafts but found no trace of him.

More than 100 homes and properties were searched as police investigated whether anyone was helping Freeman evade arrest.

Police also offered one of the largest rewards in Australia, promising $1 million for information leading to his capture.

Early in the investigation, Freeman’s 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.