Shock, sadness and relief in a town at the center of a seven-month police manhunt in Australia
Tiffanie Turnbull,SydneyAnd
Flore Drury,London
Seven months ago, few people outside the Australian state of Victoria had heard of the town of Porepunkah, with its population of just over 1,000.
But the fatal shooting of two police officers by local Dezi Freeman last August and the subsequent manhunt made headlines not just in Australia, but around the world.
Back in the town where Freeman had lived with his family, few people wanted to speak on the record.
Those who spoke to the BBC and other media outlets expressed a range of emotions: relief bordering on happiness, hope that the city can now begin to recover, and anger at what it has already experienced. One resident told the BBC the town had been “ruined” by the media attention.
But the overwhelming feeling is grief, said Marcus Warner, a longtime search-and-rescue volunteer in the area and president of its chamber of commerce.
The Alpine region of Victoria is home to a very small, close-knit community, in which the Freeman family and murdered officers Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart were well known.
“There was some shock to learn what happened and it didn’t take very long for a wave of sadness to subside,” Warner said of the Monday morning confrontation, which occurred a month later. police said they believed Freeman to be dead.
“To some extent, it’s a weight lifted off our shoulders. We feel like we can breathe again. Obviously there’s still a long healing process, emotionally, psychologically, economically – a lot of the financial losses will never be recovered.”
Annie Brown/ABC News
In a social media post, Freeman’s eldest son, Koah, said he struggled to see some people celebrating his father’s death while his family was grieving.
“I’m not here to defend my father’s actions because I know what he did was wrong,” he wrote on a local community bulletin board.
“Just keep in mind that for you [he] was a cop killer, but for me, it was always my father who raised me. »
“I hope you all realize that I watch everything you say and that you all realize how it makes me feel.”
Urging people to show some empathy for his family, he said he was now focused on helping them find peace.
The media attention, public scrutiny over pockets of conspiracy theorists in the city and repeated protests from police that area residents should help Freeman have created some angst in the community, Warner admits.
But he says they remain united.
“What you read online and what I hear and see every day in our community are polar opposites. There are people who have polarizing opinions, but I would say you can count them on one hand. We are a population of several thousand here.”
He hopes the strong ties that bind the community together will help those affected – including Freeman’s family – recover.
“I think we might see people rebuilding their lives at different stages and at different paces, but I hope they get the right help and talk to each other,” he said.
“As a community, I think we will definitely be there for them.”
Alpine Shire Mayor Sarah Nicholas had a similar message: Get help.
“Our community has been deeply affected by these recent events, which have had a significant impact on many individuals and families,” she said in a statement.
“We will do everything we can to continue to support our community during this difficult time.”
In the meantime, Freeman’s former neighbors – named only as Richard and Bianca – told Channel Nine’s A Current Affair that the 54-year-old’s death would mean “less anxious nights” for them.
Still, they would have “liked it to end in a different way,” Richard said.
“But he [Dezi] had to account for his actions. This means we can forget about it. It’s not a happy story.”
Victoria Police
In the nearby town of Bright, just four miles away, business owner Balin Foley hoped the end of the manhunt would now allow the area to rebuild its tourism industry, which had been hit hard.
“It will take a bit of time because people will remember it over the next few years,” Foley, 33, told the Herald Sun.
“It’s a great event that happened, but I think there are enough good things happening in the city that they eventually overshadow it.”
Further away, friends of the dead officers remembered the men they had lost and spoke of their relief that Freeman had been found.
Peter D’Mello, a friend of De Waart, told The Age it was “bittersweet” that Freeman had met the same fate as the two officers he killed in the line of duty.
“It doesn’t bring back Thommo or anything like that, but now it’s less talked about,” Bird said.
