Porepunkah police shootings
| Porepunkah police shootings | |
|---|---|
Victims Vadim De Waart-Hottart and Neal Thompson | |
Porepunkah Porepunkah (Victoria) Porepunkah Porepunkah (Alpine Shire) Porepunkah Porepunkah (Australia) | |
| Location | 36°42′8″S 146°52′58″E / 36.70222°S 146.88278°E Porepunkah, Victoria |
| Date | 26 August 2025 10:37 am (AEST, UTC+10:00) |
| Target | Victoria Police officers |
| Weapons |
|
| Deaths | 2 police officers |
| Injured | 1 police officer |
On the morning of 26 August 2025, police officers Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart-Hottart were killed in a shooting at a property near the regional Victorian town of Porepunkah, Australia, while attempting to execute a warrant. A third officer was injured. The alleged shooter, Dezi Bird Freeman, a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen known to police, fled into the dense bushland of Mount Buffalo National Park.
A manhunt involving hundreds of police officers ensued, with Victoria Police supported by interstate police forces, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Defence Force. Freeman has been on the run for 204 days, with no confirmed sightings since the shootings.
The number of officers involved in the manhunt was unprecedented in Australian history and there is a A$1 million reward for information leading to his arrest, which is the largest reward ever offered in Victorian history.