Fugitive Killed After 7-Month Manhunt

It's March 30, you're listening to Global News Today, AI-powered coverage from around

the world.

I'm Cory with the story.

Australian police finally caught up to a fugitive they believe was Desi Freeman, a 56-year-old

man wanted for gunning down two officers and seriously injuring a third back on August

26 last year.

This went down in a remote forest near Poor Punca, northeast of Melbourne in Victoria

State.

After seven months on the run, with zero confirmed sightings, Cobb shot him dead Monday following

a tense three-hour standoff.

The showdown happened at a secluded spot near Thola Golong, about two hours north of that

original scene.

Heavily armed special ops teams surrounded a shelter that looked like a shipping container,

gave him a chance to surrender.

But it ended in gunfire.

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush says they strongly suspect it was Freeman, though formal ID

due fingerprints could take up to 48 hours.

Freeman was deep into sovereign citizen ideas, rejecting government authority and holding

grudges against police.

A disabled pensioner who changed his name from Philby, he even tried citizens arrests on

a magistrate in 2019 and sued the state premiere for treason in 2021.

His wilderness skills had everyone thinking he could hide forever in those alpine woods.

Police launched a massive hunt right after the attack, offering a $1 million Australian

reward.

That's about $678,000 US dollars for tips.

Lately, they figured he might have taken his own life, but they kept digging every lead.

Now they're probing if anyone helped him stay off the grid all this time, wrapping up

loose ends on a case that shook the force to its core.