A “heavily armed” man is being hunted after two Australian police officers were shot dead and one injured in an ambush in a small rural town in the state of Victoria.
Police described the situation in Porepunkah in the Australian Alps – 300km (186 miles) north-east of Melbourne – as an “active incident” and that hundreds of officers had been deployed.
Officers were attacked as 10 of them attended a house to serve an arrest warrant, which Australian media said was for historical sex offences.
Police say the suspect escaped by running into the bush alone after the shooting. Australian media named him as Dezi Freeman. Police have not officially confirmed the name.
A police statement said that the suspect was believed to have been on his own at the time of the shooting, and that his partner and children had been “accounted for” after attending a police station.
“My message to that person is give yourself up, so that the community can be at peace and we can have this resolved peacefully,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said.
He said that 10 officers went to the property on Tuesday at about 10:30 local time (00:30 GMT).
They were fired upon by a heavily armed offender, he said, adding that two colleagues – a 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable – were “murdered in cold blood”.
A third officer was shot in the lower body. He was airlifted to hospital and was undergoing surgery, Mr Bush said. His injuries are not life-threatening.
The state police chief said all the available resources were being used in the hunt for a “dangerous” suspect, and urged locals to stay indoors.
“[Our] priority is to arrest him and bring safety and security to this community,” the officer said.
He said the fact that so many officers were attending, highlighted that they knew the risks – and urged the gunman to give himself up.
The police chief did not confirm the nature of the raid that officers were executing at the property.
Footage from the scene earlier on Tuesday showed dozens of police deployed to Porepunkah and a police helicopter circling in the area.
The town, home to about 1,000 people, is part of the Alpine Shire local government area. People have been warned not to travel into the area.
In a statement, Mayor Sarah Nicholas paid tribute to the officers, extending “thoughts, love and unwavering” support to their families.
“Today has been a day of deep sorrow and shock for our community… We are grieving together,” she said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan both praised the officers for their bravery.
Local resident Emily White told the BBC she and her guests had been sheltering in a caravan park that she owned.
“I think reality really set in – that this is a really, really horrible situation,” Ms White said.
“We’re such a small community, and we’ll leave our cars unlocked, and we’ll leave our front doors open. Nothing like this ever happens.”
Australian media report Mr Freeman previously made headlines 2021 when he attempted to privately prosecute then Victoria premier Daniel Andrews for treason and fraud. He was arrested while protesting outside of court before the hearing.
Mr Freeman claims to be a “sovereign citizen” – which refers to someone who falsely believes they are not subject to Australian laws and government authority.
Called SovCits for short, these people have been a presence in the nation for decades, according to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
The police say they are mostly harmless, but there has been a resurgence of the beliefs in recent years – in part fuelled by mistrust in authorities which was exacerbated by the Covid pandemic.
In a 2023 briefing note, the AFP said the movement had “an underlying capacity to inspire violence”.
Gun crime is relatively rare in Australia, which has some of the world’s strictest gun regulations.
But similarities are being drawn with an ambush attack in 2022, when two police officers were killed at a rural property in Queensland.
By BBC News
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