SYDNEY, March 30 (Reuters) – Australian police said on Monday a fugitive gunman, who had been on the run for seven months for allegedly killing two police officers, was believed to have been shot dead in a police operation in a remote town in Victoria state.
“While the man is yet to be formally identified, police believe it is likely to be 56-year-old Porepunkah man Desmond Freeman,” Victoria Police said in a statement.
Freeman, previously known as Desmond Filby, was fatally shot at about 8:30 a.m. on Monday (2130 GMT, Sunday) following a three-hour standoff at a rural property in northeast Victoria, Australian media widely reported.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the police shooting was justified as officials investigate the exact circumstances of the incident and conduct a formal identification.
“Everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified,” Bush said during a media briefing, adding that no police officers were injured during the incident.
“There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not … we’re working through the sequence of that. We strongly believe, yet to be confirmed, that he was armed.”
More than 450 police officers had been involved in the hunting for Freeman since August, when he allegedly opened fire on a team of 10 police officers, when they arrived at a property in Porepunkah, about 300 km (186 miles) northeast of Melbourne, to execute a search warrant.
Authorities had offered a A$1 million ($684,700) reward for information leading to his capture.
Believed to have expert bushcraft skills and multiple powerful firearms, Freeman fled into bushland at Mount Buffalo National Park following the shooting. Local media have described him as a “sovereign citizen”, a term used for individuals who regard the government as illegitimate.
The Age newspaper reported Freeman was found and shot dead by police at a large rural property in the remote Walwa area in Victoria, about 180 km (112 miles) northeast of Porepunkah.
Satellite imagery showed the property was studded with multiple buildings, two shipping containers, a caravan and several derelict vehicles, the report said.
($1 = 1.4605 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Sonali Paul and Michael Perry)
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