More than one metre of snow forecast for Victoria’s alpine areas as manhunt continues
Petra Stock
As the search continues in and around Porepunkah, near Mount Buffalo in Victoria’s high country, the weather bureau is forecasting a series of cold fronts could dump up to a metre of snow in the state’s alpine areas between now and Saturday.
A series of cold fronts crossing south eastern Australia in the final week of winter were expected to culminate in flurries of snow across four states, including Victoria’s alpine areas, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
A property in Porepunkah. Photograph: Simon Dallinger/AAP
In Victoria, the chilly winds could see the snow level drop to 1,000m on Thursday and down to 600m on Friday.
Subzero temperatures were forecast for alpine areas, which could see up to a metre of snow, between now and Saturday.
The cold fronts could culminate in snowfall in some unusual places. In Victoria, this included the western parts of the Grampians, Macedon Ranges and the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne’s east.
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Updated at 05.32 BST
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Benita Kolovos
Victoria premier praises emergency services working days ‘among toughest our state has known’
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has used question time to praise emergency services after the Porepunkah shooting and a fatal school bus crash this morning. She described the past 48 hours as “among the toughest our state has known”.
Allan went on:
In both of these tragedies, our emergency responders have been … at the scene of great heartbreak. They have carried out their duties in dangerous, confronting and deeply difficult conditions. And on behalf of everyone in this place, I want to thank them – Victoria police, paramedics, firefighters, SES workers and volunteers – for the courage, professionalism and great care they have shown through the most trying of circumstances.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
She said Victorians were grateful emergency responders continued to work to keep communities safe in “the most difficult, treacherous and dangerous of circumstances”.
Each of us has a responsibility to walk beside them, to wrap our arms around them, to provide every support they need, not just now, for as long as it takes. This is a time of grief. It must also be a time of unity, a time to stand with these families, to stand with these communities, and also to stand with every member of Victoria police and every one of our emergency services.
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Updated at 05.46 BST
More than one metre of snow forecast for Victoria’s alpine areas as manhunt continues
Petra Stock
As the search continues in and around Porepunkah, near Mount Buffalo in Victoria’s high country, the weather bureau is forecasting a series of cold fronts could dump up to a metre of snow in the state’s alpine areas between now and Saturday.
A series of cold fronts crossing south eastern Australia in the final week of winter were expected to culminate in flurries of snow across four states, including Victoria’s alpine areas, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
A property in Porepunkah. Photograph: Simon Dallinger/AAP
In Victoria, the chilly winds could see the snow level drop to 1,000m on Thursday and down to 600m on Friday.
Subzero temperatures were forecast for alpine areas, which could see up to a metre of snow, between now and Saturday.
The cold fronts could culminate in snowfall in some unusual places. In Victoria, this included the western parts of the Grampians, Macedon Ranges and the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne’s east.
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Updated at 05.32 BST
Catie McLeod
Local mechanic describes Freeman as a ‘new age Ned Kelly’
Marty Robinson, who owns the mechanic shop in town, described Freeman as a “new age Ned Kelly” who was “pretty handy in the bush”.
Standing on Porepunkah’s main street, gesturing up at the hills behind him, Robinson said the police “could be up there for weeks looking for” him.
“He doesn’t fit in, and he doesn’t go along with the rules, and he’s an anti-vaxxer. That’s all probably true, but … he’s a family man”, he said.
“I’m not saying he’s a hero or a legend, but he’s someone’s father.”
Marty Robinson walks back in to his Porepunkah mechanic business, Marty’s Garage. Photograph: Stuart Walmsley
Robinson said the day felt pretty normal to him and that Porepunkah remained a “sleepy little town”.
“Life goes on. Just checked my mail; no bills, that’s good. I’m servicing a lady’s car. The show goes on,”he said.
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Updated at 05.20 BST
Catie McLeod
What do Porepunkah locals have to say about the ongoing manhunt?
I’m in Porepunkah with photographer Stuart Walmsley, where we’ve been speaking with locals.
It’s a rainy, grey day, and as you can imagine, most people would have remained indoors even if Victoria police hadn’t sent automated text messages to everyone warning them to stay home due to an “active armed offender in the general area”.
Still, some people have left home to go to work, or ducked out to get a coffee or collect their mail, only to be met by journalists, photographers and camera crews, most of whom have driven up from Melbourne.
Many locals have, understandably, been reluctant to speak to the media.
Everyone we have spoken to who knew Dezi Freeman, who lived on a bush block at the end of a dirt road on the outskirts of town, has said he knew the land very well and that they thought it would be difficult to find him.
A sign at the end of Rayner Track, just west of Porepunkah, where police originally tried to execute an arrest warrant for Dezi Freeman. Photograph: Stuart WalmsleyShare
Updated at 05.07 BST
Mayor of local council urges community to ‘continue to look after yourselves and each other’
Sarah Nicholas, the mayor of the Alpine Shire council, which includes Porepunkah, said the community extended its “deepest thanks to all frontline workers – especially Victoria police – for the extraordinary work they are doing to protect and support our community”.
Nicholas told community members on social media they should take reassurance “in the fact that we are receiving the best of the best when it comes to police resourcing and expertise, with support from both state and interstate agencies”, adding:
We know this event has had a significant emotional impact – particularly on our younger community members and their parents and carers, many of whom experienced lockdowns at schools and childcare centres yesterday.
Please continue to look after yourselves and each other. If you or someone you know is struggling, reach out – help is available, and you are not alone.
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Updated at 04.55 BST
Suspect did not own the property where shooting took place
Nino Bucci
The suspected Porepunkah gunman, Dezi Freeman, did not own the property where the shootings took place.
Guardian Australia has been unable to speak with the owners, a local couple.
It is unclear if the couple had been living on the property with Freeman and his family, but they were not there at the time of the shootings.
Attempts to contact the owners via social media and family members have been unsuccessful. Property records show that they sold a separate property in a nearby regional town earlier this year.
A police helicopter lands at an operations centre at Feathertop Winery, just north of Porepunkah. Photograph: Stuart Walmsley
The couple had operated a business selling chestnuts and appeared at local farmers’ markets.
A man who also claimed to live at the property had parked his car over the driveway on Wednesday, preventing access beyond the front gate.
The car had a note on the dashboard that read “left car here to prevent reporters to access private land. I live here” and included a phone number.
The man declined to comment, but when asked if he had spoken to the owners of the property, he responded that “everything was under control”.
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Updated at 04.11 BST
Aircraft banned from flying above Porepunkah
No aircraft will be allowed to fly around Porepunkah after the Australian Transport Safety Bureau granted the area “Temporary Restricted Airspace”.
Victoria police said the no-fly zone, which includes all aircraft and drones, was within a 4 nautical mile (about 7.5km) radius of 6619 Great Alpine Road, Porepunkah (Feathertop Winery) and would be in place until at least 11.30pm on Friday.
Police said:
Given the suspect in this matter is heavily armed, this condition has been granted due to the risk to aircraft and drones, as well as potential implications associated with the suspect tracking police movements based off media coverage.
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Updated at 03.37 BST
AFP issued warning that sovereign citizen movements could ‘inspire violence’ in 2022
Nino Bucci
The Australian federal police warned violent sovereign citizens could become an enduring part of the “threat landscape” in an unclassified 2022 briefing released under freedom of information laws.
The suspected Porepunkah gunman, Dezi Freeman, has been described as a sovereign citizen.
Like many others within the movement, he appeared to become radicalised during the early years of the pandemic, railing against lockdowns and vaccine mandates, which were seen as reinforcing his conspiratorial beliefs about governments.
The AFP, in a briefing released under freedom of information laws in 2023, said it remained to be seen how the end of the pandemic would shift the behaviour of this group.
Stephen Dametto, the acting assistant commissioner of counter-terrorism and special investigations, wrote in the presentation:
What we’ve learned is while these groups present and behave very differently to other extremist groups, there is an underlying capacity to inspire violence.
As COVID-based restrictions and mandates begin dissipating around the country, time will tell whether we see these movements fade into obscurity or whether they become a more enduring fixture of the threat landscape in Australia.
Dametto also stated in the briefing that:
SovCits see violence as a last resort or only necessary in the form of ‘self-defence’ against a tyrannical government. This however, does not mean that these groups can’t be dangerous.
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Updated at 04.36 BST
Some photos from Porepunkah
A massive police operation is under way in the small town of Porepunkah, home to about 1,000 people. Guardian Australia has a photographer on the ground as the man hunt continues.
An aerial view of Porepunkah. Photograph: Stuart Walmsley/The GuardianA police helicopter lands at an operations centre at Feathertop winery, just north of Porepunkah. Photograph: Stuart WalmsleyScenes looking north from the end of Rayner Track, just west of Porepunkah, where police originally tried to execute an arrest warrant for Dezi Freeman. Photograph: Stuart WalmsleyA sign at the entrance to Porepunkah. Photograph: Stuart WalmsleyShare
Updated at 02.36 BST
Support from colleagues ‘the best medicine’ for injured officer, head of police association says
Wayne Gatt, the head of the Victoria Police Association, said he spoke to the officer who was seriously injured yesterday. Gatt told RN Breakfast earlier the man was “clearly devastated” by the events, and had to deal with his own recovery while mourning the loss of his colleagues:
I can only imagine how he’s feeling. He’s having to deal with that at the same time as dealing with his physical injuries, which I know he received some treatment for yesterday. And I just hope that his continued recovery is faster.
I know some of his colleagues have had some messages from him this morning, which is great. It’s great to see because the best medicine is the support of your colleagues. It works for us. I don’t know, it might be a police thing … but it does work for us knowing that the policing community is supporting you.
And I’m sure that will be, in no small dose, something that he’s drawing heavily on.
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Updated at 02.12 BST
Local lawyers pay tribute to senior officer killed at Porepunkah
Nino Bucci
Legal sources have told Guardian Australia that the senior officer who was killed, a 59-year-old detective, was particularly well regarded in the region for his kindness and fairness.
“He was just a lovely bloke, it’s a tragedy,” one lawyer said.
He was so close to retiring, he’d booked tickets for an overseas holiday and everything. Awful stuff.
The same lawyer had regularly seen Dezi Freeman around the Wangaratta courts, though never represented him or dealt with him. Freeman often represented himself in court.
“He was certainly a frequent flyer, that’s for sure,” the lawyer said.
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Updated at 03.46 BST
Victoria police commissioner Mike Bush addresses media amid search for Porepunkah shooting suspect – video
Police have a “wide cordon” set up as part of a “very wide search area” for Dezi Freeman, Victoria police chief commissioner, Mike Bush, told reporters on Wednesday morning. “We are pouring every resource into this search for this person.”
Porepunkah shooting suspect Dezi Freeman ‘heavily armed’ and still at large, police say – videoShare
Updated at 01.33 BST
Head of Victoria police association says members ‘enormously sad’ after death of colleagues
Wayne Gatt, secretary of the Victoria Police Association, said earlier this morning the group’s members were all “enormously sad” after yesterday’s events at Porepunkah.
Gatt told RN Breakfast:
I mean, I don’t know if there’s an easier way to describe it. They’re all people underneath that uniform, and they’re just enormously sad …
Hundreds of them are having to suppress the way they’re feeling emotionally as they turn up to work and really get on with this dangerous, but so important, job of holding this offender to account.
Wayne Gatt. Photograph: James Ross/AAPShare
Updated at 01.15 BST
Albanese says government takes threat of sovereign citizen ideology seriously
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the federal government takes seriously the threat of ideologies like sovereign citizenship. He was asked about the government’s consideration of fringe movements on ABC Radio Melbourne this morning:
Mike Burgess, the director general of Asio, has been warning about far-right extremism. We have seen that spread and it is difficult to defend against individuals.
We know that that is the case, that this person, Dezi Freeman, who remains on the run is the latest advice that we have received, has [allegedly] engaged in an attack in which two police officers have lost their lives, a third has been seriously injured.
Anthony Albanese. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 00.47 BST
Officers were on site to execute warrant related to Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation teams
Benita Kolovos
Bush said earlier the 10 officers who attended Freeman’s property were there to execute a warrant related to the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation teams, known as Socit.
He told reporters:
So the team that went there were local officers and members of the sexual offences and child investigation team. I’m not going to go into any further detail, because there are victims involved in the matter and it would be very unfair and unwise for me to talk about that any further.
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Updated at 01.18 BST
Injured officer will recover, but has ‘significant’ injuries
Bush said he hopes to visit the officer injured in the shooting yesterday, saying he believes they are out of surgery but “significantly damaged”.
He said the officer will recover, but more information on their condition will come later.
Mike Bush speaks to media. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPShare
Updated at 00.12 BST
Freeman ‘understands bushcraft well’, police commissioner says
Bush said police believe Freeman is thought to understand “bushcraft well”, presenting a challenge for those searching for him:
Our understanding of him is he understands bushcraft well, which provides a challenge for us. But we keep an absolutely open mind on what options are open to him. And those options will inform our approach.
Authorities conducting a manhunt overnight did so in difficult weather conditions. But Bush said the team was “absolutely determined and focused on finding this person.”
They are oblivious to those conditions when they have a mission.
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Updated at 00.25 BST
Freeman thought to have ‘multiple firearms’
Bush said police believe Freeman has many weapons with him:
Long arms, powerful firearms, multiple firearms. We haven’t recovered any of his firearms from the scene.
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Updated at 00.04 BST
Police have ‘wide cordon’ set up as part of ‘very wide search area’
Bush said the best experts in the country are doing “everything” they can to find Freeman. Authorities have not had any confirmed sightings of him since yesterday’s events.
We have all the assets in play. We have not had any confirmed site sightings of him at the moment … Anything is possible. He knows that area, even though we have experts in the area, he will know that area better than us. So, that’s why we’re putting in every expert and supported by local knowledge as well.
Bush added Victoria police had spoken with their counterparts in NSW, who are on standby if needed.
A Victoria police Air Wing helicopter over the scene of a shooting at Porepunkah in Victoria. Photograph: Simon Dallinger/EPAShare
Updated at 00.04 BST