Now, a manhunt is underway in Australia
after two police officers were shot and
killed. The officers were fired upon
when they attempted to execute a warrant
for alleged sex offenses. Well, the
suspect has been identified as Desi
Freeman, a self-proclaimed sovereign
citizen who rejects government and law.
So, let's find out a little bit more
about this. Uh, we're joined now by our
correspondent, uh, Nicole Johnson. So
Nicole, first of all, how much a
challenge for officers is this manhunt?
>> It's going to be really difficult. We
know that as soon as the shooting took
place, the alleged gunman, he took off
into the bush. And when you look at the
terrain of this area, this happened,
it's about 200 miles from Melbourne.
It's in Victoria's Alpine region. So it
is scrubby, wild, mountainous country.
There are helicopters in the sky trying
to track him down. Hundreds of police
officers on foot. They're also using
thermal imaging. But there is also the
suspicion that this uh gunman may have
been prepared that he could have sort of
survival areas already decked out in the
bush. He's going to know this terrain
much better than the local police
officers. So, they have a really big
challenge ahead to try and track him
down. Already we're into the second day
of this and people who live in the
neighboring community of Paul Panka, a
tiny town of around 1,000 people,
they're in lockdown. They're not allowed
to leave their homes. So, the entire
area is is desperate for this man to be
found.
>> Do we know about the suspect? Nicole,
>> as you said before, one of the most uh
notable things about the suspect is the
fact that he is a self-declared
sovereign citizen. So, he doesn't
recognize the Australian government. He
doesn't recognize the legitimacy of the
police department or police officers.
There is some reporting that he has had
run-ins with the police before and
altercations. We also know that he is
married, that he has two children, and
that's the other big question. Where is
his family? Now, the police don't
believe that they are with him, but at
this stage, they are unaccounted for.
So, really, the Victorian Police
Department has a big challenge ahead in
trying to track him down. And I'll just
point out, of course, this is a really
unusual situation to develop in
Australia. It's uh very rare that police
officers would be attacked. The last
time something like this happened was
three years ago, and it did have some
similarities. A police officers back
then in Queensland were ambushed. Just
as they were ambushed here, two police
officers were killed in that case. But
this time around, the really difficult
thing for police is the terrain.