There is no one else under arrest at the moment over Freeman’s alleged crimes and his seven months on the run. However, Bush says, charges against other people are “quite possible in the future”. Police are investigating how the man believed to be Freeman survived on the run for so long undetected.

Bush says the man killed will be formally identified within the next 24 to 48 hours.

Police say they had ascertained the identity of the man shot – he had confirmed his identity – during the three-hour standoff before he was killed. However, police are still being very careful in their language, before the deceased is formally identified, referring to him as the man they believe to be Freeman.

Asked whether the deceased man was armed with the service weapon of one of the officers slain last August, Bush tells reporters: “It is quite possible that the weapon that is at the scene is one of our officers’ weapons.”

Bush says he has heard “mixed reports” over whether the deceased man fired at police. The weapon the man was carrying has been secured. Bush says a “forensic examination” will take place “to ascertain whether shots were fired by the deceased from that weapon”.

Bush says he has seen a video which showed the man believed to be Freeman emerging from a building holding a weapon. That action, the commissioner said, “took away any discretion our officers had to resolve this peacefully”.

Victoria police commissioner Mike Bush has begun speaking to reporters in Wodonga, on the Victorian-NSW border.

Helen Haines, the independent member for Indi, has thanked Victoria police, and everybody involved in the search for Dezi Freeman since the shooting of two police officers in August last year. Haines’s regional electorate takes in the town on Porepunkah.

Over the past six months, a dark cloud has hung over the Porepunkah community.

News this morning of the death of Mr Freeman draws this prolonged and devastating incident to a close.

This will come as a relief to the whole community – especially to the families of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, and their colleagues.

In this special episode of Full Story, Reged Ahmad speaks to justice and courts reporter Nino Bucci, who has covered the manhunt of Dezi Freeman for the past seven months.

In November, Bucci returned to Porepunkah, where rumours continued to whip around Victoria’s high country.

This map shows how far Dezi Freeman travelled to get from Porepunkah, where he fatally shot two police before going on the run, to Thologolong 150km away, where he was found and shot dead by police 216 days later.

About 5.30pm, police will address the media from Wodonga, a close major township to Thologolong.

Allan says her thoughts are with the Victoria police and the community of Porepunkah and surrounds, where the incident has “hung like a dark, dark shadow”.

The threat may be over, but for you, the mourning will never end … The pain will live on in these communities.

This operation and this incident reminds us of the risks the men and women of Victoria police take every single day, in protecting us, in protecting the community, in thinking of others before themselves.

She confirms she has spoken to the chief commissioner of Victoria police about Dezi Freeman’s fatal shooting.

Gatt says if anyone helped harbour Freeman during the manhunt, they should “be worried” and will be pursued relentlessly by the police force.

News like this stirs up emotions that haven’t yet healed to start with. But there’s a degree of relief too … hope that it means something to the families of the victims.

Their memory has to live on.

You can read about the officers who lost their lives here:

Victoria police association secretary praises ‘dogged determination’ of officers

The Police Association of Victoria secretary, Wayne Gatt, is speaking to reporters in Wodonga.

He praises the “dogged determination” of officers who have sought out Dezi Freeman for the past seven months, while adding it has “come as a bit of a shock” to most of the police force.

We’ve got enormous gratitude for the investigators, responders that have … from the very first day up until today been involved in this.

He says today’s events don’t “necessarily deliver us closure” but allow the force to “move forward … and never forget”.

He pays tribute to Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart-Hottart, who were allegedly fatally shot by Freeman.

We’ll remember them forever, we’ll remember what they gave and what they did, and that’s as it should be.

I don’t think too much of him [Freeman], he’s dead today.

We are expecting to hear again from Victoria police later this afternoon.

We are also expecting Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, to give an update about national cabinet within the hour, in which we understand she will also address the shooting of Freeman.

The search for Freeman dragged on for seven months. Three months in, Guardian reporter Nino Bucci drew together the disparate threads about what we knew and what we didn’t. We still don’t yet have the answers to some of those questions. You can read more from that reporting here:

Thologolong resident reports helicopters, loudspeakers and siren in area

A farmer from Thologolong, Neil Sutherland, spoke to ABC radio this morning, saying he heard a shot ring out about a kilometre down the road from where he was, while it was still dark this morning.

Sutherland said:

It was definitely not regular because there were helicopters, or one helicopter, circling the area, and I heard a loudspeaker and a siren, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying on the loudspeaker because of the helicopter.

Here are some images of the property where we understand Dezi Freeman was killed.

The property is near Thologolong, a small rural locale near the Murray River, not far from Walwa.

A visual reminder, for anyone who isn’t familiar with the Porepunkah area, just how mountainous that terrain is, and how thick the bush is that Dezi Freeman fled into back in August.

I’m handing back to Stephanie Convery now.

More on potential use of police weapons

Just circling back to the press conference earlier, Victorian police commissioner Mike Bush was asked whether the weapon Dezi Freeman had in his possession at the time of the shooting on Monday was “one of the weapons taken off the officers” during the Porepunkah shooting.

Bush said it was a possibility that police were exploring.

It is worth noting that in early February, when police strongly believed Freeman had killed himself, police conducted firearms testing within Mount Buffalo national park.

Who is Dezi Freeman?

If you’re wondering about who Dezi Freeman was, and how we got here, my colleague Caitlin Cassidy has the rundown.

‘End of a long and difficult chapter’, state Liberals say

The Victorian opposition leader, Jess Wilson, and shadow police minister, Brad Battin, said in a statement that today “marks the end of a long and difficult chapter for Victoria police”.

They said:

For more than six months, a man accused of murdering two police officers and seriously injuring another has been on the run.

The Liberals and Nationals commend the extraordinary skill, determination and persistence of Victoria Police, who have worked tirelessly to bring this matter to a close.

There will be a sense of relief across the force today, but also deep and lasting grief.

Our thoughts remain with the families of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, whose lives were taken in the line of duty.

Nothing can undo their loss, but today may bring a measure of closure.

The pair also extended thoughts to the Porepunkah community, and praised police across the state for their courage and service.

I’m going to hand you over to my colleague Josh Taylor now.

The parents of Sen Const Vadim de Waart-Hottart, one of the officers shot and killed in August, were in Melbourne on Friday for an unrelated police memorial. Bush said they were still in the city and that he would be meeting with them shortly.

In September last year, as the hunt for Freeman wore on, police offered a $1m reward for information about his whereabouts that would lead to his arrest.

When asked today if anyone had claimed that reward, Bush said:

Anything in relation to any rewards or anything else about the investigation will be kept confidential.

The police webpage that advertised the reward has now been taken down, but the Wayback Machine shows it was still live earlier this month.

As is standard when there is a shooting by police, the Professional Standards Command will have oversight of the investigation into it, and there will be a coronial hearing. A statement earlier this morning confirmed that the coroner would attend the scene itself.

During that press conference, chief commissioner Mike Bush confirmed he had already spoken to the families of the police officers who were shot on 26 August, and all of the members of the police force that were involved in the operations on that day. They were “the very first people to be made aware of the outcome of this operation”, he said.

If you’re just joining us and you want to catch up on the full story, my colleagues Cait Kelly and Benita Kolovos have been putting it all together here:

Asked if he would deem the operation to find Freeman a success, Bush says:

It’s come to a conclusion which gives closure to everyone involved.

Bush said it would have been very difficult for Freeman to get to where he was without help, and that there would be an ongoing investigation as to who supported him “in this escapade”.

Bush will still not confirm the shooting today occurred at Walwa, but if it did, that’s around 2.5 hours’ drive, or roughly 190km, from Porepunkah.

Bush said:

We’ll be speaking to anyone who may have assisted him to avoid detection and arrest.

Bush said the standoff with Freeman this morning began at about 5.30am and was over by 8.30am.

Bush said:

The standoff commenced early this morning when we made an appeal for the person inside that premises to come out.

Chief commissioner of Victoria police, Mike Bush, wouldn’t say how much the hunt for Freeman cost, but he said it was “one of the most significant resourced or largely resourced police operations in history.”

They had more than 2,000 leads on Freeman’s location and a number of sightings, but none were confirmed and a large number were eliminated.

Bush said he’s pleased to be able to dedicate police resources to “other serious crime investigations” given how many resources this operation has consumed.

The chief commissioner is asked about the fact that the most recent update from police regarding Dezi Freeman indicated that they believed Freeman was dead. He is asked if that was a genuine belief or a tactic.

Bush responds:

It’s a very good question because, you know, we have to follow every avenue of inquiry and there was a lot to suggest that Freeman had taken his own life. But I can tell you standing here that our investigators – that’s why they’re professionals – keep their mind open to every possible outcome and follow every possible lead.

He does not elaborate on what led them to Freeman this morning.

Bush says that if the formal process does confirm that the deceased man is Freeman, this “brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible” situation.

He acknowledges the police across the jurisdictions that have worked on the Freeman hunt and the people of Porepunkah and the surrounding areas.

Operation to find Freeman has concluded, commissioner says

Bush says the seven-month operation to find Freeman concluded this morning.

Bush says he believes the shooting of the man today was justified:

The operation was conducted by our professionals, members of our Special Operations Group, and Task Force Summit investigators.

Whilst there will be a Professional Standards Command, a coroner’s hearing into this matter, everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified.

As I said, the operation was conducted by professionals from Victoria police. The very first people to be made aware of the outcome of this operation were the families of the officers tragically killed on 26 August, and all of the members that were involved on that day.

A recap of the circumstances surrounding the hunt for Freeman

The police officers who were shot had been part of a group of 10 police – made up of local officers and members of the sexual offences and child abuse investigation team – who entered Freeman’s Porepunkah property, in rural Victoria about 210km north-east of Melbourne as the crow flies, on a Tuesday morning in August to serve a search warrant. They were then allegedly fired upon by Freeman.

Freeman, a 56-year-old with a history of association with pseudolaw or “sovereign citizen” ideology, allegedly fled into the bush heavily armed, with a manhunt ensuing that has been continuing for the seven months since.

Scott Brandon, owner of the Bright Brewery, a few kilometres away from Porepunkah, has told ABC Radio Melbourne this morning that locals feel a “big relief” following the discovery of Dezi Freeman. He told host Raf Epstein:

I think it’s a big relief for us to have this chapter resolved, if this news is correct. It’s certainly something that’s been weighing on our minds for several months now.

Brandon said when initial search operations were underway there was a “big impact” on tourism in the area and it “caused a lot fear in the community”:

Since then everything has pretty much returned to normal ... but it’s certainly something that still gets discussed from time to time. When you’ve got an unresolved event like that where somebody’s clearly still being searched for, it’s going to keep coming up. And so, you know, I think it’s a relief just to have an end to all of that.

Independent federal MP Helen Haines, whose electorate of Indi encompasses Porepunkah and much of the surrounding high country, has released a statement this morning in the wake of the news that Freeman has been shot and killed.

Haines said:

Over the past six months, a dark cloud has hung over the Porepunkah community.

News this morning of the death of Mr Freeman draws this prolonged and devastating incident to a close.

This will come as a relief to the whole community – especially to the families of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, and their colleagues.

I thank Victoria Police, and all those involved in the search for their determination and service.

‘Thoughts, concerns and support’ with Porepunkah community, Victorian attorney general says

The Victorian attorney general, Sonya Kilkenny, was holding a press conference in Melbourne as the news emerged of the police shooting of Freeman. She said:

It is a developing situation and of course understand Victoria police has put out a statement a few moments ago. I think the main thing is our thoughts, our concerns and our support are with the Porepunkah community and the families of the two police officers who were killed in that tragic incident nearly six months ago.