The Porepunkah police shooting occurred on the morning of 26 August 2025, when Australian man Dezi Bird Freeman shot and killed police officers Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart-Hottart and injured a third.
The officers were serving a search warrant at a property near the town of Porepunkah, in Victoria, Australia, in relation to Freeman’s alleged crime of child sexual abuse. Additionally, police planned on arresting Freeman. He was a known member of the sovereign citizen movement. As police made entry, Freeman shot and killed the two officers and injured a third before he fled into dense bushland in the Mount Buffalo National Park. A manhunt involving hundreds of police officers ensued, with Victoria Police supported by interstate police forces, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Defence Force. The number of officers involved in the manhunt was unprecedented in Australian history, and there was a reward for information leading to his arrest, which was the largest reward ever offered in Victorian history. On the morning of 30 March 2026, police officers shot and killed Freeman in Thologolong near Walwa. He had been on the run for 216 days.
A directions hearing as part of a coronial inquest into the deaths of the officers and a separate inquest into Freeman's death was held in May 2026 which heard that Freeman told both officers to "die in hell" as he stood over their bodies. The inquest briefs are due to be released by 30 October 2026, with the inquests to be held around March 2027.
Background Australia has strict laws restricting gun access since 1996, when 35 people were killed in the Port Arthur massacre. Thus, rates of homicide by perpetrators using firearms are low.
Dezi Freeman Desmond Christopher Filby was born in 1969 or 1970. He attended school in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley until 1977, when his family moved to the regional city of Wodonga. By 2003, Filby had adopted the name Dezi Bird Freeman. His new surname is popular in the sovereign citizen movement. Freeman worked as a freelance photographer. He was interested in bushcraft and had hiked in the Mount Buffalo National Park since he was 16; his son described it as his "second home".
From at least 2019, Freeman posted content on social media which was hostile to police and authority figures, including comments stating "the only good cop is a dead cop" and "[police] all need to be exterminated." The same perspective was conveyed in a 2024 court appearance over the cancellation of his driver's licence, wherein he labelled police "friggin Nazis" and "terrorist thugs". Freeman appeared often in the County Court at Wangaratta on a range of charges, and was known for having a hostile attitude and complicated or "baroque" defences typical of sovereign citizens. In an interview after the shootings, Freeman's estranged nephew said Freeman "always had this hidden anger about him". In 2020, his firearms licence was cancelled.
Sources contacted by The Age described Freeman's views as having become more extreme during the COVID-19 pandemic. He protested vaccines and lockdowns, and refused to wear masks, rejecting the validity of the exercise of any state power. Freeman was associated with a 2021 attempt to bring a private prosecution of treason against former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, which received news attention. He had previously appeared in the media on an episode of A Current Affair in 2018, concerning a dispute with neighbours. By 2025, he was speculating that the end times were approaching.
As of August 2025, Freeman was living with his wife and two children at a property near Porepunkah, a rural town northeast of Melbourne. Freeman's oldest son, aged 20, had moved out a year earlier. The compound, known as Four Gully Farm, owned by Andrew and Rebecca Swift, housed multiple people. At least one member of the couple shared his anti-government views, and discussed COVID-19 conspiracy theories. The Freemans' home consisted of a converted bus, a pole marquee, and shipping containers. The family regularly attended church.
Shootings
Around 10:30 am on 26 August 2025, ten Victoria Police officers, made up of local officers and members of the sexual offences and child abuse investigation team, attended the Four Gully Farm property to execute a search warrant at Freeman's home to search for child sexual abuse material and to arrest him. A prior risk assessment had concluded that the police tactical group the Special Operations Group (SOG) would not be required. The warrant was part of a firearms prohibition order, relating to a sexual offence against a child under the age of 16 alleged to have taken place within the previous two years. It was revealed after the shooting that hundreds of files of child abuse material were found on devices belonging to Freeman.
After the police arrived at his bus, Freeman, inside with his wife and two-year-old child, began arguing with and insulting the officers for around 34 minutes. Victoria Police would later describe Freeman's wife during the incident as uncooperative, and that she could be charged with obstruction. Police attempted to pry open the door but were unsuccessful. When Freeman refused to open it, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson opened a window, and entered feet first before being shot in the head and neck by Freeman. De Waart-Hottart was shot in the head as he attempted to retreat from an annex attached to the bus. The remaining officers took shelter behind various vehicles and shipping containers as the shooting continued.
Freeman exited the bus after fatally shooting both Thompson and De Waart-Hottart and retrieved De Waart-Hottart's handgun and spare magazine while firing at other officers sheltering nearby. One officer suffered cuts from shattered glass, and another narrowly avoided being shot after Freeman fired at a shed the officer was taking cover behind. Freeman then used the handgun he had taken from De Waart-Hottart to shoot Thompson a second time, before stating "die in hell" over the bodies of the officers.
Freeman is said to have claimed that the warrant was "illegal" and that he did not recognise police authority at the time of the shootings.
The 27 minutes leading up to this were captured on a video filmed by a Freeman family member; after the two shots were heard, the recording ends. At some point after this, a third officer, a male detective, was shot in the leg, and he hid under the bus for nearly an hour waiting for help to arrive. Freeman tried to shoot a fourth officer, a female sergeant, but his homemade shotgun failed. Police officers fired shots in his direction but did not wound him. He subsequently escaped alone and on foot into the bush after taking the two dead police officers' handguns. He was believed by police to be armed with a homemade shotgun, a rifle and two police-issue handguns. Police described his dress as including dark green tracksuit pants, a dark green rain jacket, brown boots, and reading glasses.
The police SOG arrived by helicopter from Melbourne before midday. Local residents were advised to stay indoors, and Porepunkah Primary School was temporarily placed under lockdown.
Victims Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, aged 59, and Belgian-born Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, aged 35 were fatally shot.
Thompson, a week away from retirement, had joined Victoria Police in 1987. Across a 38-year career he worked in general duties at the Collingwood police station, as a detective based in Melbourne and in the Wangaratta Criminal Investigation Unit. He was chosen to serve the warrant as he had previously dealt with Freeman and had established a rapport. De Waart-Hottart joined Victoria Police in 2018 and had worked in general duties at the St Kilda police station before transferring to the Public Order Response Team in 2023. He was on temporary assignment in Wangaratta, and was fluent in Spanish, French and Flemish.
The detective shot in the leg was flown to The Alfred Hospital and underwent surgery. By 6 September, he was recovering at home.
The funerals of De Waart-Hottart and Thompson were held on 5 and 8 September 2025. Both services took place at the Victoria Police Academy in Glen Waverley, attended by more than a thousand mourners, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police Mike Bush.
Manhunt
Nearly 500 officers were deployed to the Porepunkah area to search for Freeman, to investigate the shootings and to provide community assurance. These included members of Victoria Police, bolstered with assistance from all interstate police forces, and from the Australian Federal Police. Assistance was also provided by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Defence Force, as well as from other emergency services organisations.
Cold, snowy and windy winter weather conditions made the initial stages of the search difficult. The shootings occurred in the foothills of Mount Buffalo, a rugged, alpine region with dense bushland containing many natural caves, disused mineshafts and potential hideouts such as abandoned structures, huts and gorges, further hindering the search. Locals speculated that Freeman, an experienced bushman, could survive in the region for weeks.
A no-fly zone, prohibiting all aircraft including drones, was established over the search area and was extended multiple times. As of 29 September 2025, it remained in place over Porepunkah. Parks Victoria also closed Mount Buffalo National Park.
Freeman's wife became the focus of media attention. On 28 August, she was arrested with her 15-year-old son in a raid on a Porepunkah property. They were subsequently interviewed and released pending further inquiries. Four days later, she publicly urged her husband to surrender, and offered support to Victoria Police, saying she "does not hold anti-authority views", and expressing her condolences and sorrow for the deaths of the officers.
On 6 September, police announced a reward for information leading to Freeman's capture, the largest ever offered in Victoria for an arrest. By 29 September they had received more than 1400 tips from members of the public. Several unconfirmed sightings led to tactical operations in and around the national park.
On 12 September 17 days after the shooting, the police SOG in their search for Freeman were supported by police tactical officers from all Australian state and territory police tactical groups, and New Zealand, conducting the largest police tactical operation in Australian history, involving hundreds of officers and over 125 specialist officers. Two days later, warnings against travelling to the Porepunkah area were lifted, and residents were advised to remain vigilant.
As September ended, Victoria Police announced they had scaled back the search to around 200 officers, with numbers fluctuating as needs arose elsewhere. By then, police had searched over and hundreds of properties, both with and without the consent of owners. The manhunt had extended beyond the proximate area to locations including Goomalibee, a town west of Porepunkah. As of 2 October, the search continued to focus on Mount Buffalo National Park, which remained closed to the public.