Shock, sadness and relief in town at centre of Australia’s seven-month police manhunt

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Seven months after two police officers were shot dead in Porepunkah (pictured), the town is hoping to rebuild

Seven months ago, few outside of the Australian state of Victoria had heard of the town of Porepunkah, with its population of just over 1,000 people.

But the fatal shooting of two police officers by local Dezi Freeman last August, and the manhunt that followed, thrust it into the headlines not just in Australia, but around the world.

That manhunt - one of the largest in Australian police history - ended on Monday, after officers shot Freeman dead following a six-hour stand-off at a property almost two hours’ drive north of Porepunkah.

Back in the town where Freeman had lived with his family, few wanted to speak on the record.

Those who did speak to the BBC and other outlets expressed a range of emotions: relief bordering on happiness, hope the town might now start to recover, and anger at what it has gone through already. One resident told the BBC last month the town had been “ruined” by the media spotlight.

But, said Marcus Warner, a long-time search-and-rescue volunteer in the region and its chamber of commerce president, the overwhelming feeling is sorrow.

Victoria’s Alpine region is home to a very small, close-knit community, where both the Freeman family and the slain officers Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart were well-known.

“There was a degree of shock to hear that had happened and it didn’t take very long then for a wave of sadness to fall,” Warner said of Monday morning’s stand-off, which came a month after police were saying they believed Freeman to be dead.

“To some degree it’s a weight lifted off our shoulders. We feel we can breathe again. Obviously there’s still a long healing process, emotionally, psychologically, economically - a lot of the financial losses will never be recovered.”

Watch: How Australia’s seven-month-long manhunt came to an end

The attention of the media, the scrutiny of the public over reported pockets of conspiracy theorists in the town, and repeated police protestations that people in the region must be helping Freeman were difficult for the community to weather - but Warner says they remain united.

“What you read online versus what I hear and see each day in our community are poles apart. There are some people with polarising views, but I would say you could count them on one hand. We’re a population of several thousand up here.”

He hopes the community’s strong ties will help those affected rebuild their lives.

“I think we might see people rebuilding their lives in different stages and at different speeds, but hopefully they’ve got the right help and they talk to each other,” he said. “As a community, I think we’ll definitely be there for them.”

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Alpine Shire Mayor Sarah Nicholas had a similar message: reach out for support.

“Our community has been deeply affected by these recent events, which have had a significant impact on many individuals and families,” she said in a statement.

“We will be doing everything we can to continue supporting our community through this difficult time.”

Meanwhile, Freeman’s former neighbours - named only as Richard and Bianca - told ABC News’s A Current Affair programme that the 54-year-old’s death would mean “less anxious nights” for the couple.

Even so, they would “have liked it to end a different way”, Richard said.

“But he [Dezi] had to account for his actions. It means we can forget about it. It’s not a happy story.”

Victoria Police

Senior Constable Vadim De Waart and Detective Neal Thompson were named as the officers killed in August

In the neighbouring town of Bright - just 6km (3.7 miles) away - business owner Balin Foley hoped the end of the manhunt might now allow the area to rebuild its tourism industry, which had been hit hard.

“That’ll take a little bit of time because people are going to remember it for the next couple of years,” Foley, 33, told the Herald Sun.

“It was a big event that happened, but I think there’s enough good things that happen around the town that will overshadow it eventually.”

Further away, friends of the slain officers were remembering the men they had lost - and speaking of their relief that Freeman had been found.

Peter D’Mello, a friend of De Waart, told The Age it was “bittersweet” that Freeman met the same fate as the two officers he killed in the line of duty.

John Bird, a friend of Thompson’s, told ABC it brought a “finalisation” to the case.

“It doesn’t bring Thommo back or anything like that, but now there’s less talk about it,” Bird said.

Fugitive Dezi Freeman shot dead by Australian police after seven months in hiding

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