Australian fugitive being helped by others as manhunt nears second week, say police

Police in Australia have accused people of harbouring a fugitive who is believed to have killed two officers last Tuesday.

As the search for the alleged killer Dezi Freeman nears its second week, Victoria Police made a statement calling on anyone helping him to turn him in.

Freeman, 56, is accused of shooting a 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable to death at his property in Porepunkah, a small town around 200 miles (320km) northeast of Melbourne.

A third officer was also injured in the shooting, but their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

The victims had been part of a 10-strong police force that arrived at Freeman’s home to carry out a search warrant, the details of which have yet to be confirmed.

Since the killings on Tuesday, police have had no sightings of Freeman, who escaped into thick bushland near his property.

At a press conference on Monday, Victoria Police’s Supt Brett Kahan suggested that some people knew Freeman’s whereabouts.

“You are committing an extremely serious crime by harbouring or assisting in the escape of Dezi Freeman,” he said.

Kahan added that a special “mobile facility” had been established in nearby Bright so that members of the public could come forward with anonymous tip-offs.

Freeman’s wife, who was arrested along with a 15-year-old on Thursday before being released, has appealed to her husband to surrender.

The 56-year-old suspect is heavily armed and is skilled in wilderness survival, according to Victoria’s Chief Commissioner of Police Mike Bush.

Before Tuesday, the last police to be shot and killed in the country was in 2023 in South Australia state.