Manhunt for Dezi Freeman after Victoria police killed two officers

A large-scale manhunt continued in Victoria's High Country after a 56-year-old man allegedly opened fire on police serving a search warrant on Tuesday, killing two officers and wounding a third before fleeing into dense bushland near the small town of Porepunkah. Victoria Police named the suspect as Dezi Freeman and described him as heavily armed, experienced in bush survival and dangerous. Authorities said they have mounted an extensive ground and air search but had no confirmed sighting of him.

Police and state officials said Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35, were fatally shot at the Rayner Track property while a 10-officer team executed the warrant. A third officer was shot in the lower body and has undergone surgery; police said the officer is expected to recover. Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said officers had fired at the suspect during the confrontation but had not wounded him, and investigators have not recovered Freeman's weapons from the scene.

More than 450 police personnel from Victoria and other jurisdictions have been deployed, officials said, with helicopters, drones, armoured BearCat vehicles and...