Police say that 2 officers

Two police officers were killed and another seriously injured in a shooting on Tuesday on a property in a rural part of Australia. The gunman remained in general while the police toured a vast remote area.

The shooting occurred in mid -morning when 10 armed police officers tried to execute a raid order on a property in Porepunkah, a city of just over 1,000 people in the state of Victoria to 200 miles northeast of Melbourne.

The suspect killed a 59 -year -old detective and an agent older than 35, the Chief of Chief of Police of Victoria, Mike Bush, told journalists at a press conference in the nearby city of Wangaratta.

The officers “were received by the offender and were killed in cold blood,” Bush said. The man fled alone, on foot and was very armed in the surrounding forest, where hundreds of officers still looked for him, said the police chief.

Bush would not disseminate what the order was related and would not confirm the name of man or the motivations believing. The officers also sought the wife of man and the two children, whose whereabouts were unknown.

Another detective was shot and underwent surgery on Tuesday night, Bush said. Man’s injuries did not threaten life.

The Australian media, including the age newspaper, said the suspect was Dezi Freeman, 56, described him as a theorist of the radicalized conspiracy that had expressed hatred by the police. Freeman was a “sovereign citizen” self -proclaimed, said the document, referring to a movement that falsely believes is not subject to the laws approved by the Government.

During a 2024 hearing to appeal his suspended driver’s license, Freeman told a court that “even the view of a policeman or a policeman … is like an Auschwitz survivor who sees a Nazi soldier,” said Sydney Morning Herald.

“We urge the public in the municipality and its surroundings of Porpunkah to remain inside until again,” police said in a statement.

The public buildings and the nearby airfield were closed. The local school of just over 100 students was locked up for hours before students could go home.

“Show feeling of fear”

As darkness fell, the huge human hunt continued. Television reports showed helicopters and police dogs in the area.

Porpunkah, known for its vineyards and scenic views, is a gateway to the Alpina Victoria tourist region.

The members of the Victoria Police Union were affected by a “shocking and disturbing fear of fear,” said Victoria Wayne Gatt police association. “Police stations have silenced in Victoria when they first notified us.”

Alpine Shire mayor Sarah Nicholas said it had been a day of “deep pain and shock” for the community.

“We are crying together, and we will continue to support each other with compassion and care,” he said in a video message on social networks, his voice breaking with emotion.

The last police officer to be shot dead in the country was in 2023 in the state of South Australia, according to the National Police website. In 2022, Two officers were shot dead by Christian extremists in a rural property in the state of Queensland.

The three shooters, the theorists of the conspiracy that they hated the police, were shot dead by officers after a siege of six hours in the Wieambilla region.

Such episodes cause national news coverage because shooting deaths in Australia are rare.

TO 1996 massacre In the city of Port Arthur in Tasmania, where a lonely armed man killed 35 people, led the government to drastically tighten the arms laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.

French agency Presse contributed to this report.

• Australia
• Police