The two police officers allegedly murdered by a sovereign citizen were a detective days away from retiring and a small business owner-turned cop.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35, were allegedly gunned down by Dezi Freeman, 56, while executing a search warrant at his Porepunkah property, in northeast Victoria, on Tuesday morning.
A third police officer was rushed to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery for serious injuries to his lower body.
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Victoria Police say he is “significantly damaged”, but is expected to recover.
A major hunt remains underway to find Freeman, who fled into bushland with an arsenal of weapons after the alleged shootings.
Victoria Police said Thompson joined the force in September 1987 and, after completing his training, spent seven years in general duties at Collingwood Police Station.
For the next decade, he worked as a detective at the Major Fraud Squad and the State Crime Squad, before taking up his most recent post at Wangaratta CIU in July 2007.
“Neal was an adventurer and enjoyed all things outdoors. He loved getting out in nature, and his friends and colleagues regularly joined him on these trips,” Victoria Police said.
“Neal had spent the past six years alongside his partner, Lisa, the love of his life. Since the pair met, Neal had found new purpose and was planning in earnest for his imminent retirement. Together with Lisa, Neal had built a new home and had a long list of tasks planned after he knocked off work for the last time.”
Victoria Police said Vadim De Waart started his policing career at the Victoria Police Academy in December 2018.
“Following his training, Vadim joined St Kilda Police Station where he worked for three years, before joining PORT as a senior constable in April 2023. At the time of his passing, Vadim was on temporary assignment in Wangaratta,” they said.
“An eternal optimist and avid traveller, Vadim was fluent in French, Spanish, Flemish and English. He had also completed scuba dives all around the world and motorcycling trips more locally with his friends and colleagues.
“He was a keen gin collector and always picked up a local bottle on his overseas adventures for his large collection at home. While travelling was his passion, Vadim was extremely proud to have purchased his first home in Melbourne in recent years.
“Vadim is survived by his beloved parents Carolina and Alain, who live in his native Belgium, and his younger brother Sacha who lives in Switzerland. Closer to home in Melbourne, he leaves behind his aunty Jacqueline, uncle Shane, uncle Peter, aunty Maria and his cousins Christopher, Jeremy, Laura and Tessa.”
Thompson was a renowned detective in Wangaratta, who was at the helm of investigating many big local cases.
In recent years, he featured in many news stories as he appeared in court to help prosecute cases from major drug busts, vicious assaults, house fires, and serious traffic offences.
Prior to entering the force, De Waart operated a small business in Melbourne’s CBD and worked in hospitality at various hotels across Australia.
According to his LinkedIn page, he completed an arts degree at University of Maastricht in the Netherlands in 2014 before migrating to Sydney later that year.
He worked his way up in hospitality, starting as a food and beverage attendant at Mercure in Sydney, before becoming a conference and events duty manager at Melbourne’s Pullman Hotels and Resorts in 2016.
In 2017, he opened a business — called The French Ship — in Southport, before shutting shop in September 2019 as he began his career with Victoria Police.
During his time on the force, he made a profound impact on the community, featuring in a portrait painted by a young girl who was inspired by his suggestion to follow her passion.
In 2020, Victoria Police shared a photo of De Waart clutching the artwork painted by a little girl called Zoe, after he and another fellow officer encouraged her to paint.
“One of the most exciting aspects of policing is the broad nature of contacts we make in the field,” De Waart said at the time.
“When I spoke to Zoe at the St Kilda Police reception, I never would have imagined receiving the very next day a portrait of myself hand painted by her.
“When I came to work the next day to find out I was someone’s inspiration to create a piece of art I was really touched and felt proud to serve as a police officer. What I like most about these paintings is that they have been made faceless — this allows for the viewer to add their own identity and story.
“The paintings’ matter project a strong, firm yet calm physicality. There are explosions of colours in the background; this makes the content dynamic but not chaotic — which is how I view the job of policing.”
Photos posted on social media show De Waart, who celebrated his 35th birthday last month, living life to the fullest in recent years as he enjoyed travelling overseas with his partner.
Just two weeks ago, he shared photos on his photography blog of him travelling through the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
“Ten days with a group of strangers travelling... Now we feel like family,” he wrote.
In June, he shared his last post on his personal Facebook page — a photo of him sipping a drink as he sat on his balcony.
“My home on the waterfront. Cheers to this beautiful city. Melbourne,” he wrote.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the family of the dead officers are “distraught” but Victoria police are “putting every piece of support” around their families.
“Our officers come to work every day to keep their communities safe,” Bush said on Wednesday.
“We always live with the knowledge that the worst could happen, but we don’t expect it to.”
How the shooting unfolded
A team of 10 officers — consisting of local cops and specialised police from the sexual offences and child investigation team — went to Freeman’s property on Tuesday morning to execute a search warrant for alleged historic sex offences.
Freeman, who is also known as Desmond Filby, allegedly opened fire on the group — instantly killing De Waart and Thompson and seriously injuring a third.
Bush said the remaining seven police officers had to “hunker down” until police could get extra resources to ensure they could safely extract them from the property because they did not know where Freeman was hiding.
Meanwhile, Freeman fled into bushland with an arsenal of weapons, which are believed to include “long firearms, powerful firearms (and) multiple firearms”.
“We haven’t recovered any of his firearms from the scene, so we believe that the firearms he used, he is still in possession of,” Bush said on Wednesday.
Police initially believed Freeman had fled with his family and he was holding them hostage, but Bush confirmed the 56-year-old’s wife and children were safe after they presented to a police station overnight.
Freeman was last seen wearing khaki tracksuit pants, a dark green rain jacket, brown Blundstone boots and reading glasses.
Scores of police officers have spent Wednesday in the Porepunkah and Bright area as the local community remains locked down amid tactical operations to find Freeman.
Victorians urged to be ‘vigilant’
Bush said Victoria police are “pouring every resource” into the search for Freeman, with NSW Police on standby to take over in the event that police learn the 56-year-old has crossed over the border.
He said Freeman “knows the area” and “understands bushcraft well”, which provides a challenge for detectives.
“I can assure everyone that we are pouring every resource into this search for this person,” he said.
“We have a large team investigating this crime and we have a large team that are absolutely focused on finding this suspect.
“All of our specialist resources are there to make this happen.
“The hunt will continue until we find him. ”
Bush told the Porepunkah community and wider Bright area that the police officers and partner agencies in the area are working to protect them and urged them to “be vigilant” and “keep yourselves safe”.
“Please don’t go outside if you don’t need to,” he said on Wednesday.
“We will do everything to find this heavily armed individual.
“But if you see anything that arouses your suspicion, and you think we need to know, please ring 000 and tell us immediately.
“Don’t support this person. It’s very dangerous. He’s killed two police officers and injured a third.
“He does not deserve anyone’s assistance.”
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