Police in Australia have announced a A$1m (£485,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of fugitive gunman Dezi Freeman, who is suspected of having killed two police officers.
More than 450 police have been searching the mountains of Victoria state for the 56-year-old, who is suspected of killing the police officers on a rural property on 26 August.
Freeman, a self-identifying “sovereign citizen”, vanished into dense bushland near rural Porepunkah last month, after allegedly killing the officers and injuring a third when law enforcement officers arrived with a search warrant reportedly tied to a sex crimes investigation.
He has been on the run for the past 11 days and despite extensive operations involving helicopters, armoured vehicles, and heavily armed police, the authorities are yet to catch the fugitive.
"As part of the effort to locate Freeman and bring him into custody peacefully and safely, police are offering a reward of up to A$1m (£485,000) for information on his whereabouts that leads to his arrest," Victoria Police said in a statement. "This reward represents the largest ever offered in Victoria for an arrest."
Freeman, thought to be in remote high country, may be alone or have assistance, or could be "dead as a result of self-harm", police said. The search area includes the town of Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of state capital Melbourne, where Freeman is alleged to have run into the bush in wintry weather.
Detective Inspector Dean Thomas, who heads the homicide squad, said on Saturday that the reward would be paid for information leading to the arrest of Freeman, instead of helping secure his conviction.
However, he warned the Australian public against trying to join the manhunt in the hope of cashing in on a sighting of the suspect. “I strongly oppose anybody doing that,” Mr Thomas said.
“He has already killed two police members and seriously wounded a third. His propensity for using violence has been shown. We have highly skilled specialist police officers out there in the bushland.
“They are armed, and we don’t want people being out there in that area for our police officers to perhaps mistake them for being Freeman and finding themselves in a situation where they have been confronted by our officers.”
He added: "We’re into day 12. We are not at an end. We still have active lines of inquiry that we continue to pursue, and we are very buoyed by the information that we have had come in to date."
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan last month paid tribute to the two slain officers, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35, amid what she said was the "huge operation" by authorities to catch Freeman.
The suspect, who had earlier changed his surname from Desmond Christopher Filby to “Dezi Freeman” – a symbolic gesture of his belief in personal sovereignty – is backed by a “wide” support network, police said. He is part of the “sovereign citizens” movement, which is known for promoting conspiracy theories and hostility toward law enforcement.
The Daily Mail previously reported that Freeman might be tracking the movement of the police using a stolen radio from one of the dead officers. Freeman’s rejection of authority often played out in Victoria’s courts, where he faced a string of driving charges. He allegedly insulted judges and lashed out at officers.
