'Remain inside': manhunt continues for armed cop killer

A heavily armed man, who’s believed to identify as a sovereign citizen, remains on the run in dense bushland after two police officers were murdered in a cold-blooded ambush.

The rural Victorian town of Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of Melbourne, spent the night in lockdown as Victoria Police tried to track down the fugitive accused of shooting two of their own and seriously injured a third.

Ten officers were met with gunfire when they went to a property on Rayner Track in Porepunkah on Tuesday morning to execute a search warrant.

A 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable were shot dead. Another detective was seriously injured and underwent surgery.

“They were met by the offender, and they were murdered in cold blood,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush told reporters.

The man, named in multiple media reports as 56-year-old local man Dezi Freeman, is described as heavily armed and dangerous.

The alleged perpetrator is believed to be a sovereign citizen, police sources not authorised to comment on the situation told AAP.

People who identify as such question the authority of governments and believe they are not subject to the law.

Police have dedicated mass ground and air resources to find him.

“The public should remain inside. He is obviously a very dangerous person, and he needs to be caught, and that’s why we’ve committed every resource to do that,” Mr Bush said.

But late on Tuesday night, community members went to the Wangaratta Police Station to lay flowers for the fallen officers.

Mr Bush said the man was known to police and a risk assessment was made before officers executed the warrant.

The suspect’s partner and children attended a police station on Tuesday night.

“There is nothing to suggest they were ever in the company of the suspect” after the shooting, police said.

Premier Jacinta Allan said it was a hideous crime.

“In our toughest of times, we reach out and provide support, we provide love, we provide care and make it absolutely clear that this was a hideous criminal act and this offender will be dealt with,” she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia’s security intelligence had previously warned about “far-right extremism” involving so-called sovereign citizens.

“The fact that this ideology of not seeing themselves being subject to our laws and our society ... is of real concern, and ASIO have warned that this threat is very real, and that we need to be very vigilant about it,” he told ABC television on Tuesday night.

He also drew similarities between the alleged incident and another in Wieambilla in 2022, when two Queensland officers conducting a welfare check were shot dead by people who identified as sovereign citizens.

Local federal MP Helen Haines said the tragedy had shaken the community of Porepunkah.

Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said the dead officers had paid the “ultimate price”.

The deaths mark the state’s biggest loss of police life since the 2020 Eastern Freeway crash when four officers died after a truck veered into them as they were impounding a vehicle.