A fugitive gunman who was on the run for seven months has been shot dead by Australian police, news agency Reuters reported on Monday (March 30, 2026), citing Australian media. Dezi Freeman, previously known as Desmond Filby, had been on the run for seven months after allegedly killing two police personnel in a remote town in Victoria state.
The fifty-six-year-old fugitive was fatally shot at about 8:30 a.m. on Monday (2130 GMT, Sunday) following a three-hour standoff at a rural property in north-east Victoria, Reuters reported, citing reports.
"A man has been fatally shot by police at a property in north-east Victoria this morning as part of the operation to locate Desmond Freeman," Victoria Police said in a statement when asked to confirm reports of Freeman's death, as quoted by news agency AFP.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush declined to formally confirm the identity of the person shot dead by police pending official identification but said the shooting was justified. "Everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified," Bush was quoted as saying by Reuters during a media briefing, adding that no police officers were injured during the incident.
"There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not ... we're working through the sequence of that. We strongly believe, yet to be confirmed, that he was armed."
More than 450 police officers had been involved in the hunting for Freeman since August 2025, when he allegedly opened fire on a team of 10 police officers when they arrived at a property in Porepunkah, about 300 km (186 miles) north-east of Melbourne, to execute a search warrant.
Desmond Freeman fled into dense bushland after shooting and killing two police officers on a rural property in Victoria State. For the past seven months, hundreds of police have pursued Freeman through the region's rugged terrain, pouring resources into one of Australia's largest-ever manhunts.
Authorities had offered a A$1 million ($684,700) reward for information leading to his capture. Described by local media as a conspiracy theorist and a "sovereign citizen", a term used for individuals who regard the government as illegitimate, Freeman is believed to have expert bushcraft skills and multiple powerful firearms. He fled into bushland at Mount Buffalo National Park following the shooting.
The fifty-six-year-old fugitive was fatally shot at about 8:30 a.m. on Monday (2130 GMT, Sunday) following a three-hour standoff at a rural property in north-east Victoria, Reuters reported, citing reports.
"A man has been fatally shot by police at a property in north-east Victoria this morning as part of the operation to locate Desmond Freeman," Victoria Police said in a statement when asked to confirm reports of Freeman's death, as quoted by news agency AFP.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush declined to formally confirm the identity of the person shot dead by police pending official identification but said the shooting was justified. "Everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified," Bush was quoted as saying by Reuters during a media briefing, adding that no police officers were injured during the incident.
"There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not ... we're working through the sequence of that. We strongly believe, yet to be confirmed, that he was armed."
More than 450 police officers had been involved in the hunting for Freeman since August 2025, when he allegedly opened fire on a team of 10 police officers when they arrived at a property in Porepunkah, about 300 km (186 miles) north-east of Melbourne, to execute a search warrant.
Desmond Freeman fled into dense bushland after shooting and killing two police officers on a rural property in Victoria State. For the past seven months, hundreds of police have pursued Freeman through the region's rugged terrain, pouring resources into one of Australia's largest-ever manhunts.
Authorities had offered a A$1 million ($684,700) reward for information leading to his capture. Described by local media as a conspiracy theorist and a "sovereign citizen", a term used for individuals who regard the government as illegitimate, Freeman is believed to have expert bushcraft skills and multiple powerful firearms. He fled into bushland at Mount Buffalo National Park following the shooting.