Melbourne, Australia. — Australian police said they believe they shot dead a suspect on Monday accused murder of two police officers and seriously injured a third in a remote forest area seven months ago.
There were no confirmed sightings Daisy Freeman, 56, as he allegedly opened fire on police officers who came to serve a warrant at his home near Porepunka in Victoria state, north-east of Melbourne, on August 26 last year, Victoria Chief Police Commissioner Mike Bush said on Monday.
A man identified as Freeman was shot dead by police at a remote location near Thologolong, about two hours’ drive north of Porepunka, on Monday, a police statement said.
“We believe it is Freeman, but we have to go through the formal identification process,” Bush told reporters in Melbourne. Identification through processes including fingerprinting can take up to 48 hours.
Heavily armed Special Operations Group tactical police were involved in a three-hour standoff before the suspect was shot. He was inside a shelter similar to a shipping container and accepted police’s offer to surrender, Bush said.
Bush said, “It was all about bringing this to as safe a conclusion as possible. Our ultimate goal was to arrest the individual as peacefully as possible.”
Bush said he “strongly believes” the suspect was armed. Bush could not say whether the suspect fired at police.
Australian news outlets widely reported that Freeman supported co-stated sovereign citizen beliefs and had complaints with the police. He had wilderness survival skills that police feared would allow him to remain out in the open indefinitely.
The shooting death of three police officers prompted a massive search operation in Victoria’s densely forested alpine region. In recent months, police said they suspected Friedman had killed himself.
Bush said, “We have to pursue every avenue of investigation and there is much to suggest that Friedman took his own life.”
Bush did not say whether a tip led police to the suspect on Monday. Police had offered a reward of 1 million Australian dollars ($678,000) for information.
Police said they would continue to investigate whether other people had helped the suspect evade arrest.
