UPDATED 8.40am AEST 29/8/2025

Armed police swarmed a street in the regional Victorian town of Porepunkah overnight in the hunt for a heavily armed fugitive accused of murdering two officers.

Thursday night’s raid near the centre of the town about 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne came about the same time Victoria Police issued a “dangerous person” alert at 9.34pm

Footage circulating online shows police cars and officers at a property near Chandler Court and Francis Street.

Journalists on the scene reported that a person on a loudspeaker told people to come out “with nothing in your hands”. It’s believed several people were spoken to by police.

Victoria Police are yet to confirm any of the details of the operation, as the search for Dezi Freeman, 56, enters its fourth day.

On Friday, officers and others will continue to scour mines, caves and dugouts for Freeman, as a late wintry blast affects the search.

Freeman – also known as Desmond Filby – fled into bushland after he allegedly killed Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35, at a Porepunkah property on Tuesday.

Another wounded officer, who was among the group of 10 attempting to serve a search warrant relating to alleged child sex offending, is expected to recover after undergoing surgery.

With Freeman on the run, the small community 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne has been urged to stay vigilant.

Weather conditions on the ground are forecast to deteriorate on Friday as showers laced with hail and thunderstorms arrive, bringing wintry conditions including snow to 600 metres above sea level, senior meteorologist Angus Hines said.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Regional Operations Russell Barrett said police had deployed every asset and capability to apprehend Freeman.

“That’s our purpose, and we will not rest until it occurs,” he said.

Superintendent Brett Kahan said the terrain was difficult and dangerous.

“It’s not something that we, even with our specialist resources, can move through quickly,” he said.

Police were also still speaking to Freeman’s wife, as officers investigated properties, mines, caves and dugouts in the area.

“We will systematically search areas of interest,” Barrett said.

Mernwhile, Thompson’s local cafe paid tribute to him on social media, describing him as a larger-than-life presence with a heart of gold.

Anyone assisting Freeman has been urged to reconsider or risk serious punishment, while the accused gunman himself was urged to surrender.

“Ring triple zero, and we will support a surrender plan. That option is absolutely open to him,” Kahan said.

The bodies of the fallen officers were given a guard of honour by flashing-light police cars as they were taken to Melbourne Coroners Court on Wednesday night.

Thompson was cut down in his “last week or so” of work before retirement, and Vadim De Waart had a “great career in front of him”, Barrett said.

Local council services would resume on Friday, but the waste tip would remain closed until further notice, Alpine Shire Council said.

Freeman, who has bush survival experience, was last seen wearing dark green tracksuit pants, a dark green rain jacket, brown Blundstone boots and reading glasses, police said.

He is believed to be a sovereign citizen, an ideology that questions government authority and whose followers believe the rule of law doesn’t apply to them, and who disassociate from society.

-with AAP