Dezi Freeman killed in shootout after Victoria Police use BearCat ‘claw’ device to force him out of hiding
After 216 days on the run, Dezi Freeman died in a shootout with heavily armed police. This is how officers forced him out.
Australia’s most wanted fugitive Dezi Freeman is dead — killed in a shootout with tactical police following a seven-month manhunt that spanned most of the nation.
The 56-year-old had been on the run since killing two police officers in the Victorian town of Porepunkah last August.
On Monday morning, he was tracked down almost 150km away near the NSW border — seven months and four days after he murdered officers Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart-Hottard.
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Three hours later, he emerged wrapped in a blanket.
He dropped the blanket, revealing he was armed with a handgun believed to have been stolen from one of the officers he killed.
Aerial footage from the scene, obtained by 7NEWS, showed the high-tech way police forced Freeman out of his shelter.
On the front of the Victoria Police BearCat sits a device known as a “claw”.
The device has previously been used to breach motorcycle gang headquarters.
On Monday, it was used to pierce the shipping container Freeman was hiding out in, firing gas or capsicum spray inside and forcing the fugitive out.
“There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not,” Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush said.
“This brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible event.”
7NEWS has learned the breakthrough in finding Freeman came from a tip-off last week.
Investigators zeroed in on Thologolong, located 95km north of Porepunkah where Freeman was last seen seven months ago.
How he got there is now being investigated by police.
“We’re very keen to learn who, if any, but I’m sure some, actually assisted him in getting away from Porepunkah to where he was located,” Bush said.
Freeman had been living in squalor but it was an elaborate set-up.
Beneath a makeshift verandah were tables to prepare food, a gas cooking appliance, pots and pans, and two chairs.
The owner of the land where Freeman was found was in Tasmania and hadn’t been on his property for months when police launched their operation.
“(The neighbour’s) in shock, actually. He’s in more shock than I am, because obviously it’s his property,” a neighbour said.
The operation to find Freeman has been the biggest in Australian history.
Police received thousands of tip-offs during the manhunt.
“We had over 2000 leads. Some of them were a number of sightings. None that were confirmed,” Bush said.
At the time of Monday’s raid, there were no other people on the property.
Although police suspect Freeman had help, so far they have no suspects.
Bush said while the manhunt was over, the investigation was not.
Senior detectives are now working to seize all evidence from the rural property.
Originally published on 7NEWS
