MELBOURNE, Australia. (AP) — Australian police said they shot dead a man following a three-hour standoff on Monday, seven months after he was suspected of killing two police officers and seriously wounding a third in a remote forest region.
There had been no confirmed sightings of Dezi Freeman, 56, since he allegedly opened fire on police officers who came to serve a warrant at his home near Porepunkah in Victoria state northeast of Melbourne on Aug. 26 last year, Victoria’s Chief Commissioner of Police Mike Bush said on Monday.
A man believed to be Freeman was fatally shot by police on Monday at a remote location near Thologolong, around two hours' drive north of Porepunkah, a police statement said.
“We believe it is Freeman, but we have to go through a formal identification process,” Bush told reporters in Melbourne. Identification could take up to 48 hours through processes including fingerprinting.
Heavily armed Special Operations Group tactical police were involved in a standoff for three hours before the suspect was shot. He had been inside a shelter like a shipping container and did take up a police offer to surrender, Bush said.
“This was all about bringing this to a conclusion as safely as possible. Our ultimate goal was to arrest the person there … as peacefully as possible,” Bush said.
Bush said he “strongly believed” the suspect was armed. Bush could not say whether the suspect fired at police.
Australian news outlets widely reported that Freeman espoused co-called sovereign citizen beliefs and had grievances with police. He had wilderness survival skills that police feared could sustain him living in the open indefinitely.
The shooting of three police officers led to a massive search across Victoria’s heavily forested alpine region. In recent months, police said they suspected Freedman had killed himself.
“We have to follow every avenue of inquiry and there was a lot to suggest that Freedman had taken his own life,” Bush said.
Bush would not say whether a tipoff led police to the suspect on Monday. Police had offered a 1 million Australian dollar ($678,000) reward for information.
Police said they continue to investigate whether others had helped the suspect avoid arrest.
FILE - Police man a road block in Porepunkah, in the state of Victoria, Australia, on Aug. 28, 2025. (Simon Dallinger/AAP Image via AP, File)
A rural property at Tholongolong near Walwa, in the state of Victoria, Australia, Monday, March 30, 2026. (Jodie Mcmaster/AAP Image via AP)
MADRID (AP) — The final six World Cup places will be decided this week with the conclusion of two playoff tournaments that will complete the 48-team lineup.
Eight teams from Europe will compete for four spots, while the new intercontinental tournament that is being staged in Mexico will determine the other two places.
The biggest ever World Cup — up from 32 teams in Qatar in 2022 — is being co-hosted by three nations for the first time: The United States, Canada and Mexico.
Four-time champion Italy is the standout name in the European playoffs as it tries to avoid missing out on a World Cup for a third consecutive time.
There will be more European teams than from any other continent at the World Cup: 16.
Eight teams made it through the last round of the playoffs and will seek the final four spots in winner-take-all matches: Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Italy, Sweden vs. Poland, Kosovo vs. Turkey and Czech Republic vs. Denmark.
All four games will be played Tuesday.
The winner of the Turkey-Kosovo game will enter into Group D, which already has the United States, Paraguay and Australia.
There is a different format for the intercontinental playoffs, which FIFA simply calls the Playoff Tournament.
Two teams will advance from a field of six.
The initial lineup was made up of two teams from CONCACAF (Jamaica, Suriname) and one each from Asia (Iraq), Africa (Congo), South America (Bolivia) and Oceania (New Caledonia).
Congo, Jamaica, Iraq and Bolivia made it through to the final two matches. Congo will face Jamaica and Bolivia will play Iraq.
The decisive games will be played in Guadalajara and Monterrey on Tuesday.
Co-hosts: Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan
Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
North America, Central America and Caribbean: Curacao, Haiti, Panama
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
Oceania: New Zealand
Europe: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland
June and July. It kicks off at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on June 11. The final is on July 19 at MetLife Stadium, which will be referred to as New York New Jersey Stadium during the tournament.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Italian and Northern Ireland players react after the World Cup qualifying play-off soccer match between Italy and Northern Ireland, in Bergamo, Italy, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
FILE - The FIFA World Cup Trophy is displayed before press conference at Rockefeller Plaza, June 16, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray, File)
FILE - Argentina's Lionel Messi hoists the winning team replica of the FIFA World Cup trophy during a celebration ceremony for local fans after an international friendly soccer match against Panama at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello, file)
