Australia posts US$659,000 reward for gunman’s arrest over police killings

Australia posted a US$659,000 reward on Saturday for the arrest of a gunman on the run for a 12th day after allegedly killing two police officers.

Police in the eastern state of Victoria said they were offering the “life-changing” amount in their hunt for the 56-year-old fugitive, Desmond Freeman.

Freeman is accused of opening fire when police arrived at his home in Victoria with a search warrant.

The shooting killed 59-year-old detective Neal Thompson and 35-year-old senior constable Vadim de Waart. A third officer had surgery after being wounded in the lower body.

More than 450 police have been searching in vain for the alleged shooter, a reported conspiracy theorist who has bush survival skills, after he fled into dense forest near the small town of Porepunkah.

Now, Victoria police say they are offering up to A$1 million (US$659,000) for information leading to Freeman’s arrest – a record sum in the state for the detention of a suspect.