Overview

• Victoria Police have named 56-year-old Dezi Freeman as the suspected gunman and launched a large-scale search, saying he is armed and dangerous.
• Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart, 35, were killed and a third officer was seriously injured during a search for alleged historical sex offences.
• Supreme Court records show Freeman told a judge last year that his firearms licence had been cancelled and that he had lost his gun-club membership.
• Investigators say Freeman espouses sovereign-citizen beliefs and has a long history of confrontations with police, including courtroom clashes and a 2021 protest arrest.
• Porepunkah remains under lockdown with businesses closed as police scour the area, and authorities say Freeman’s wife and children attended a police station on Tuesday evening.