‘Homemade’: Witness reveals shock detail in new search for fugitive Dezi Freeman

As a new search for alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman enters its second day, a local has offered a huge new piece of information about the day of the fatal shooting.

A witness has revealed a shocking detail in the hours after Dezi Freeman allegedly shot and killed two police officers in Victoria’s northeast.

It comes as the fresh search for the fugitive in Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria’s northeast, enters day two, with police saying they “strongly believe” he is dead.

The new five-day search kicked off on Monday, some five months after the 56-year-old allegedly shot and killed two police officers, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart.

They had been trying to serve a warrant on Freeman at a property in the town of Porepunkah on August 26, 2025.

The alleged cop killer was last seen fleeing the western side of the Buckland River at 10.45am on the day.

Dezi Freeman is the prime suspect in the fatal shooting of two police officers. Picture: Supplied
Witness Jude Wilson, who lives in the area, told police he heard a single gunshot ring out at 12.29pm.

“Cops were going past. I came out here with Nana and I heard a bang in the background,” he told an SBS podcast.

“I was like ‘what was that’. So I looked around, not too sure what it was.”

He said there was a nearby paddock where visitors frequently shoot.

“Over in the paddock there they do shooting but normally with a rifle you hear another bang,” he said.

“It sounded like some sort of homemade shotgun.”

A Victoria Police spokesperson told NewsWire they had corroborated the witness’s account.

Police launched a new five-day search on Monday for fugitive and alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Dallinger
More than 100 officers were sent to scour a new section of bushland in the early hours of Monday morning, with police, assisted by a cadaver dog, now searching for remains.

Police believe Freeman’s body is in the area, with Victoria Police Detective Inspector Adam Tilley revealing investigators are “comfortable” he is dead.

Police launched a new for the fugitive on Monday. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Dallinger
“There has been no information or intelligence has come forward, no proof of life since the 26th of August last year,” Inspector Tilley said.

“We are comfortable that we don’t believe he is here alive. However, we are keeping an open mind that that is a possibility.

“We do believe strongly that he is in this area deceased.”

Police believe alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman is dead. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Dallinger
After an extensive search of caves, mines and rivers in the dense bushland, officers have uncovered no evidence to suggest Freeman is still alive.

This week’s search will cover an area equivalent to the size of about 52 Melbourne Cricket Ground ovals.