Victoria shooting update: alleged gunman fled with ‘powerful firearms’ and ‘understands bushcraft well’, police say

Police say suspect Dezi Freeman knows Victorian high country bushland ‘better than us’, as tributes paid to two dead officers

• Victoria police shooting live updates

• Who is Dezi Freeman? Porepunkah shooting suspect called police ‘terrorist thugs’ and tried to arrest magistrate

• What we know so far about the shooting in rural Australia

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

An adventure-loving local detective planning his retirement and a senior constable on temporary assignment in Victoria’s alpine region have been identified as the victims of a shooting in Porepunkah.

Detective leading senior constable Neal Thompson, 59, and senior constable Vadim De Waart, 35, were on Wednesday named by police as the officers allegedly killed by Dezi Freeman on Tuesday morning.

Continue reading…