Porepunkah shooting suspect Dezi Freeman knows the bushland near his property better than police, the chief commissioner has conceded, and likely took all his firearms with him when he fled.
The Victoria police chief commissioner, Mike Bush, on Wednesday confirmed the 56-year-old was the subject of a manhunt under way after two police officers were shot dead and another injured at a property in Porepunkah, in north-east Victoria.
Bush said the three officers were part of a group of 10 police – made up of local officers and members of the sexual offences and child abuse investigation team – who entered the property on Tuesday morning to serve a search warrant.
Freeman, who once called police “terrorist thugs” and has a history of association with pseudolaw and “sovereign citizen” ideas, fired upon the group before fleeing into dense bushland, Bush said.
Bush said there had been no confirmed sightings of Freeman since the attack.
He said police had not recovered any firearms from the property where the shooting took place, leading officers to believe Freeman had taken them all with him.
“We believe the firearms he used, he is still in possession of,” Bush said. “We believe he has longarms, powerful firearms, multiple firearms.”
Bush would not confirm reports Freeman may have also taken police firearms.
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He said police had set up a cordon around a “very wide search area” but conceded Freeman “understands bushcraft well”, which presented a “challenge”.
“He knows that area. Even though we have experts in the area, he will know that area better than us, so we’re putting in every expert and supported by local knowledge as well,” Bush said.
He said “anything’s possible” – including that Freeman had set up traps in the bushland, with officers “well briefed to be on the lookout”.
Bush refused to provide further details about the nature of the warrant police had attempted to execute on Tuesday, out of respect for “victims involved”. He said 10 officers were required due to the “large area” the search warrant covered.
“Part of executing a search warrant is searching. It’s a large area, so it required a large number of staff to search the area and also search for technology … that would provide evidence to the offences they were investigating,” he said.
Bush said as the manhunt for Freeman continued, police would remain at the crime scene and search other locations nearby.
He said the identities of the officers killed – a 59-year-old detective from Wangaratta and a 35-year-old officer from Melbourne – would be made public later on Wednesday once all family members had been contacted, given some were overseas.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, have led tributes to the officers killed.
Legal sources told Guardian Australia that the 59-year-old senior officer who was killed 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 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.
Bush said he would visit the injured officer at the Alfred hospital on Wednesday. The man is in stable condition after surgery.
