Thousands of mourners have come together to farewell one of the police officers allegedly murdered while on the job in Victoria’s High Country.
Colleagues and loved ones of Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart gathered at the chapel inside the Victoria Police Academy on Friday morning to remember the 34-year-old hero.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Fallen Victorian police officer farewelled as superhero
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His parents Carolina and Alain flew in from his native home country of Belgium along with his younger brother Sacha who lives in Switzerland.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Premier Jacinta Allan and Police Minister Anthony Carbines also paid their respects.
Delivering an emotional eulogy Sacha said his older brother had always been his hero and protector.
“He was my very own superhero, he was my Batman,” he said.
“When we grew up and I didn’t need his protecting anymore, my brother found 23,000 new brothers and sisters in blue to keep protecting and he found a way to continue helping everyone he could.”
Sacha said his brother was the happiest person he knew and that he did everything with passion and “a huge smile”.
He asked that people celebrate de Waart-Hottart’s life and not focus on how it ended.
“For those of you who knew my brother, I am so sorry for your loss because you knew the joy and laughter that he brought into our lives on a daily basis. But I’m even more sorry to those that didn’t get to know my brother because you’ll never know what you missed out on,” Sacha said.
“I really want you to remember Vadim for the way he lived and not for the way he died.”
De Waart-Hottart’s cousin Jeremy Dellavedova shared words written by the young officer’s mother Carolina who said: “Vadim is everywhere now, in the ether, in the divine, in the light.”
“The divine is rejoicing in receiving a new angel to her celestial choir. Vadim will live among us as a soft breeze on our cheek, an unexpected pure white butterfly hovering over my head.”
Following the mass a police guard of honour was performed as well as a flyover by the Police Air Wing.
Those who attended the funeral included colleagues from the Public Order Response Team which de Waart-Hottart had joined as a senior constable in April 2023.
De Waart-Hottart started his policing career at the Victoria Police Academy in December 2018 before joining the St Kilda Police Station where he worked for three years
Described as an avid traveller, de Waart-Hottart was bilingual and had completed scuba dives all around the world.
In recent years he had bought his first home in Melbourne.
De Waart-Hottart was on temporary assignment in Wangaratta when he and Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, were allegedly shot dead by Dezi Freeman in Porepunkah on August 26.
The pair were among a group of 10 officers executing a search warrant at a property when Freeman opened fire.
A third police officer was rushed to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery for serious injuries to his lower body.
Paying tribute to de Waart-Hottart, Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said the young officer wore the uniform with honour and “represented it with kindness, compassion and a just heart”.
“Thirty-four is too soon, six years in a job you love is too short. A life that gave more than it took, to have been ended in such a way, is an indescribable injustice and a tragedy,” Gatt said.
“To your loving family both here and abroad, we want you to know that your loss is shared by the policing family, colleagues and friends of Vadim and an eternally grateful Victorian community.”
Gatt said de Waart-Hottart would never be forgotten.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson will be farewelled with full honours on Monday.
Manhunt continues
Freeman, 56, fled into nearby bushland following the shooting and has been on the run ever since.
Hundreds of specialist police and resources have been deployed to find the alleged killer, with police vowing to remain in the area until he is captured.
“We will find the person responsible and we will locate them and put them before the courts,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said on Wednesday.
The Australian Defence Force joined the hunt for Freeman earlier this week.
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