VICTORIA STATE — Australian police fatally shot fugitive Desmond Freeman after tracking him to a caravan on a remote property in rural Victoria, ending a seven-month manhunt. Freeman had been wanted for the killing of two police officers at his home in the small village of Porepunkah in August.

Police said Freeman refused pleas to surrender during a standoff before he was shot. While the man has yet to be formally identified, police said they believe it is likely to be Freeman. The state coroner will confirm the identity of the body and cause of death.

"Everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified," Police Commissioner Mike Bush said. "There was a standoff. There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not."

Freeman opened fire on police as they raided his Porepunkah home in August, killing Detective Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35. A third officer was wounded in the lower body during the raid. The team executing the search warrant included members of the sexual offences and child investigation squad, though the reason for the warrant has not been released.

After the August shooting, Freeman escaped into a national park containing disused mineshafts. Authorities deployed helicopters, dog squads, and reinforcements from New Zealand to help track him, and at one point around 450 police officers were involved in the search. Police considered Freeman armed and dangerous and offered an AU$1 million reward for information that helped bring him into custody.

Bush said he believed Freeman had help evading capture. "It would be very difficult for him to get to where he was without assistance," he said. Police had not yet spoken to the owner of the Thologolong property where Freeman was found.

Freeman was a member of the sovereign citizen movement, which falsely holds that its adherents are not subject to the law. In 2024, he had a hearing in Melbourne to appeal his suspended driver's license, according to court documents.

The Police Association of Victoria issued a statement following the shooting. "Today, we won't reflect on the loss of a coward," the association said. "We will remember the courage and bravery of our fallen members and every officer that has doggedly pursued this outcome for the community."

Before the August shooting, the last police officer shot and killed on duty in Australia died in 2023 in South Australia state, according to the National Police Memorial website. In 2022, two police officers were shot dead by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state, and three extremists were shot and killed by officers after a six-hour siege in the region of Wieambilla.