Source : Perth Now news
Standing in front of the brick-and-mortar Wangaratta Police Station, heads are bowed, eyes are closed and drawn to the ground, and tears are shed.
Rain clouds blanket the skies as a minute’s silence echoes through the quiet Victorian town, a community ushered together solemnly as they honour two police officers who were tragically gunned down in the line of duty one year ago today.
Two Victoria Police officers, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, were both killed after being fatally shot by Desmond Freeman during a search warrant in Porepunkah in Victoria’s High Country.
A third officer was seriously injured in the shooting.
It‘s a moment in time that will go down as one of the darkest days in Victoria’s history.
One year since fatal Porepunkah shooting
It was one year ago when 10 police officers arrived at a property in Porepunkah to serve Desmond (Dezi) Freeman a warrant for alleged historical sexual offences.
The officers intended to search the property when Freeman opened fire, killing two and seriously injuring a third.
He fled into the dense bushland, where for seven months, the double cop killer was in hiding among Victoria’s dense and challenging bushland.
It sparked one of the country’s biggest manhunts, with hundreds of officers and volunteers combing through the state’s north for signs of the fugitive.
Many theorised he had taken his own life, some believed he may have succumbed to the elements, while others believed he was still in hiding.
It wasn’t until March this year, 216 days after the shooting, when Freeman was finally cornered in a shipping container in Thologolong on the Victoria-NSW border, about 200km from the August shooting.
After a tense three-hour stand-off with officers, Freeman refused to co-operate and was gunned down in the early hours of March 30, marking the end of a seven-month manhunt for one of the country’s most notorious killers.
‘Remembering them’: Memorial held for fallen officers
Speaking at the newly-placed memorial in Wangaratta Police Station on Tuesday, Commissioner Mike Bush said “a team of highly dedicated, very capable officers embarked on a mission to hold (an alleged) pedophile to account” in August last year.
“What occurred after that was an absolute tragedy, one of the most tragic days, in Victoria Police history,” he said.
“A day that took the life of two of our best, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal ‘Thommo’ Thompson, and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart.
“Today is about remembering them and acknowledging them and their service.”
Mr Bush and loved ones laid wreaths at the memorial on Tuesday as officers stood saluting the officers who “made that ultimate sacrifice”, with a helicopter flying overhead and bagpipes playing in the background.
August 26 has been marked as “solemn” for Mr Bush, who said the state’s entire police force would “no doubt remember this tragedy like it was yesterday”.
“The loss of our two colleagues Neal and Vadim, and the significant injuries to another colleague, has been felt across the entire police family from those who worked with them, the first responders on scene, the hundreds from across the nation who assisted in the search operation and the investigators who have been working tirelessly to bring the matter to a close,” he said.
“Over the last 12 months I have witnessed our organisation unite in times of utter shock and grief, all while remaining steadfast in finding answers for our beloved colleagues.
“Today we come together to pause, reflect and remember these exceptional police officers who dedicated their lives to protecting the Victorian community.
“Our deepest thoughts are with the Thompson and de Waart-Hottart families, and the officer who was significantly injured, not only on this challenging day, but every day.
“Victoria Police will carry forth Neal and Vadim’s legacies for the rest of time.”
‘Still expect to see him walk through the front door’: Remembering Neal Thompson
Neal Thompson, 59, was only weeks from hanging up his cap and retiring when his life was tragically cut short.
An avid lover of the bush, Thompson was busy building a future with his partner Lisa and their beloved dog, who stood loyal among the crowd of mourning officers and loved ones on Tuesday afternoon.
Lisa described the past 12 months as the “longest and hardest period of our lives”.
“We were told that grief eases over time, but this has not been our experience,” she said.
“Every day feels surreal, and there are many of us who still expect to see him walk through the front door.
“We lost Neal, our world, and the bright, adventurous future that our family had planned together. His loss has ripped through our hearts, our family and our community.
“We are deeply grateful to every family member, friend, neighbour, teammate and colleague for their unwavering support, compassion and love. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
She said “nothing will fill the hole” that was left behind in the wake of Thompson’s death, but she is reminded of his “stoic” words, ‘C’mon, get on with it!’, and the “lessons he shared” with the family give them the strength to keep moving.
“Neal was a protector and an explorer, with a childlike awe for life. We remain firmly dedicated to fulfilling his wishes and honouring the extraordinary man he was,” she said.
“I will be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to share a life with him.”
Speaking to NewsWire, former Victoria Police Officer In Charge Crime Investigation Alex Krstic – who first met a “wet behind the ears” Thompson in Collingwood in the ‘80s – recalled Thompson’s dedication to the force and the bush.
It was one afternoon at the Major Crime Squad office when Thompson told Krstic of his career aspirations.
“Neal was with me, and as we walked in, there was teams of detectives getting ready to go and do a level three raid … and he said to me ‘Jeez, I want to be like these blokes’,” Krstic told NewsWire.
“I said, ‘Yeah, maybe one day you will be’. He could tell straight away that he wanted to be a Detective … and he ended up becoming one.”
Krstic said Thompson was a “very positive sort of bloke” who was looking forward to hanging up his hat and retiring.
“He was looking forward to retirement, looking forward to doing all the fun stuff he liked to do out in the bush, and never got the opportunity,” he said.
‘Approached life with enthusiasm and optimism’: Remembering Vadim de Waart-Hottart
Vadim de Waart-Hottart, 34, was known to loved ones as the first person to help someone in need.
A speaker of several languages, de Waart-Hottart was remembered for his dedication to he role.
“Policing was much more than a profession to Vadim. It gave him purpose and a strong sense of belonging,” former colleague Peta Barrett said on Tuesday.
“Those who worked with Vadim knew him as someone who approached life with enthusiasm and optimism.
“He had an infectious energy, the kind that could lift a room, ease tension, and bring people together.”
A speaker of several languages and a lover of travel, Ms Barrett said it was within the walls of the Victoria Police units where he felt most at home.
“Despite the many places he visited, it was in with Victoria Police that he found another family,” she said.
“His loved ones often referred to it as his family in blue. It was a profession he immensely proud of and one that allowed him to live out the values that made it most to him. “Compassion, justice, and helping others.”
His parents Carolina and Alain said the love and dedication de Waart-Hottart showed others would be felt by the entire community.
“We understand now that Vadim belongs to a much wider family than our own,” they said.
“Both a police family and a broader family of the Victorian community.
“The words, care and support we have received from Vadim’s police family, and the community, has been extraordinary.
“The grief of our family has been shared with a caring community, and we have been uplifted by the support provided, at a time of incredible grief.
“Our family feel a deep connection and gratitude for all of your care, thoughts, support and kindness.”
De Waart-Hottart’s parents said it had “brought comfort to our family since Vadim’s departure from our lives, at Porepunkah, an Aboriginal word meaning the meeting of two rivers”.
In honour of the one-year anniversary, the families shared a message to the police family and community, dubbed Two Rivers.
Two Rivers – statement in full
Grief is a river that now runs through all our lives, unmapped, shoreless, the nature of mourning. The death of Vadim, our son, Sacha’s brother and your brother in this noble family of blue has brought us together today. For there are now two rivers flowing in our lives connecting us forever.
The river of loss and grief and the river of life and love.
This river of life is always flowing forwards to join with the vastness of the eternal ocean. So too are we all destined to return to the eternal. No energy is ever lost; it is simply transformed. Death is the only promise held. The transient moving towards the eternal
We have the capacity to hold both emotions:
Grief and joy.
Sorrow and gratitude.
Sadness and happiness.
Absence and presence.
While we are grieving the trauma of a young life that was taken from us, we simultaneously hold in our hearts our happy memories of his life lived with passion, enthusiasm, generosity and pure love of life with his trademark ever present infectious smile. We also feel gratitude for the life we still have the grace to live now.
Grief is not something we can simply choose to leave behind.
It is a powerful and overwhelming emotion, and we need to find the grace to flow with it; to allow ourselves to be carried by its current when we need to.
But there are moments when we can choose which river we wish to turn towards: the river of grief, which can drag us down into the muddy depths of sorrow; or the river of life, where we can consciously harness the winds and fill our sails with all that is joyous.
We cannot stop the river of grief from flowing through us.
But we can learn to flow with it, and, when we are ready, to lift our eyes towards the river of life and allow ourselves to be carried forward.
When two rivers meet, they merge, blending their distinct waters, each carrying different stories. There are times when the rivers join, as we experience both emotions of grief and love simultaneously.
There are times the rivers will part travelling over new terrains.
Just like a confluence where two rivers collide, the initial meeting of deep grief is turbulent and churning before it finds a broader, steadier flow.
The river does not become wider by forcing one current to disappear. It becomes wider allowing both currents to coexist.
As we too must embrace the grief and the love.
For I have learnt to see that grief is the mirror of love.
We are living in two realities: the physical and the cosmic.
It is said that this grief is love with nowhere to go.
So let us all give it somewhere to go, let it sense gratitude for what we have. Let the river teach us that we can hold both stillness and storm, flexibility and strength, become a rapid or a quiet reflecting pool.
Let the stars remind us that light is revealed in the darkness.
To have known the light that is Vadim has brought us all much laughter and kindness. We all now walk the banks of the river of life hand-in-hand.
Our family feel a deep connection and gratitude to all of you here today, one year after Vadim’s departure. We are especially grateful to those who were with Vadim in his final moments on earth, at Porpunkah, the Aboriginal word for the ‘meeting of two rivers’.
Here, at this meeting place, we honour both rivers: the river of grief for the life we have lost, and the river of love for the life Vadim gave us.
And so, as we continue along the river of life, we carry Vadim with us — in our memories, in our love, and in the light he left behind.
Two rivers, meeting in one place, flowing together towards the eternal.
