Australia news live: gunshot analysis inspires fresh search for fugitive Dezi Freeman; Littleproud faces leadership spill attempt | Australia news
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Latest call regarding ‘gunshot’ heard shortly after shooting at Dezi Freeman’s property
Victoria police say search has been restarted Dezi Freeman This is based on intelligence obtained during the man’s capture, which they say was “related to a gunshot heard shortly after the fatal incident at Freeman’s Rayner Track property.”
The new search is planned to last five days and will focus on an area of thick brush and rugged terrain, close to a similar search conducted in December in Mount Buffalo national park. Police said detectives conducted a series of firearms tests in the vicinity as part of their investigation.
There’s nothing to suggest a specific person helped Freeman, but police say it’s a possibility. Detective Inspector Adam Tilley, from a special team focused on finding the man, said in a statement:
Locating Freeman remains our number one priority and the extensive and systematic searches carried out over the last five months are testament to this.
The same three possibilities are open to us: Freeman is either dead and taking shelter, or has left the area and is surviving on his own. There is currently no intelligence that would lead us away from these possibilities or make any scenario more likely, so we must keep an open mind.
There is no doubt that everyone involved wants answers and I want to reaffirm that Victoria Police is committed to doing everything we can to locate Desmond Freeman and get that answer.
Good morning
Good morning, welcome to Monday. Nick Visser I’m here to tell you the news of the day. Here’s what’s on the agenda as we start the week:
Victoria police to begin searching again for fugitive Dezi Freeman in Mount Buffalo national park. More than 100 officers and volunteers will search for the man near the area he was searched in December, more than five months after two officers were fatally shot at Freeman’s Porepunkah property. Police said the new five-day search was based on “intelligence obtained from information obtained by police regarding gunshots heard shortly after the fatal incident at Freeman’s Rayner Track property.”
A Queensland MP will try to trigger a leak movement against the Nationals leader David Littleproud Today politicians return to Canberra for the next parliamentary session. Many Nationals members think the motion cannot trigger a vote on Littleproud’s leadership because it would need the support of a colleague in the party hall.
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