Search for fugitive over ‘cold-blooded murder’ of cops
Allanah Sciberras, Melissa Meehan and William Ton |
Mass police resources have been deployed in a bush search for a heavily-armed fugitive after two police officers were “murdered in cold blood” and another seriously injured.
A group of 10 officers had attended a property on Rayner Track in Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of Melbourne, at 10.30am on Tuesday to execute a search warrant.
A 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable were killed when a man shot at them. A detective was also seriously injured and is undergoing surgery.
“They were met by the offender, and they were murdered in cold blood,” Victoria Police’s chief commissioner Mike Bush told reporters in Wangaratta on Tuesday evening.
A major search is underway to find the man who escaped into the bush after the incident.
“We know that the person is heavily armed. We know that they are dangerous,” he said.
“It is a full deployment, every available person is out there looking for this suspect.”
Mr Bush said authorities were still looking for the man’s wife and two children but he was not seen heading into the bush with them.
The man was known to police and a risk assessment had been conducted before officers executed the search warrant, Mr Bush said.
The officers were ambushed by the alleged perpetrator who is believed to be a sovereign citizen, police sources not authorised to comment on the situation earlier told AAP.
Hundreds of officers have been deployed to the town and its surrounds as a police helicopter circles overhead.
Police are urging the town’s 1000 residents to remain indoors and those in nearby areas to stay away.
Local post office and fuel station worker Reddy Gopi said the distressing attack took place about one kilometre from his workplace and everyone was in “a bit of a panic”.
“There were 200 to 300 policemen searching here and we’ve got a helicopter in the Porepunkah and Bright areas searching everywhere, and they’ve closed pretty much all the roads,” Mr Gopi told AAP.
Mr Gopi said the town was “pretty silent” as police cars continue to scan the empty streets for the perpetrator.
“It’s like a ghost town,” he said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government’s thoughts were with the force.
“The men and women who wear our uniform and wear the uniform of the police force, take risks each and every day,” he told reporters in Canberra.
Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said police stations had fallen silent across the state as officers were notified of the “senseless murder” of their mates.
“There’s a shocking and eerie feeling of dread and indeed, a sense of not knowing what to do, and that’s something that’s being echoed in every police station across this state right now,” he said.
Following the incident, Porepunkah Primary School, Bright P-12 College and early childhood services in the area went into lockdown.
Parents at both schools were allowed to collect their children at the end of the school day.
All council buildings in the Alpine Shire Council have been closed until further notice, as has Porepunkah Airfield.
Mayor Sarah Nicholas said it was a day of deep sorrow and shock for the community.
The airfield’s reporting officer Mark Simpson said the SES and police were setting up tents and using the airfield to re-fuel helicopters as they continued their search.
“It’s quite traumatic. Police officers go to work, they’ve got to do their job, and they expect to go home,” he told AAP.
Officers across the nation were shocked and saddened by the “callous murder of two Victorian police officers and the serious wounding of another”, Police Federation of Australia president Kevin Morton said.
Premier Jacinta Allan praised officers for their extraordinary bravery and courage while opposition leader Brad Battin said police officers went to work each day knowing there was risk but do so to protect the public.
The deaths mark the state’s biggest loss of police life since the 2020 Eastern Freeway crash when four officers died after a truck veered into them as they were impounding a vehicle.
Two Queensland officers and a neighbour were shot dead by so-called sovereign citizens in an ambush in the town of Wieambilla in 2022 after they were called to a welfare check.
AAP
