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:

What we learned from that press conference

The press conference has ended there. To recap what we’ve just learned:

• Victoria Police chief commissioner Mike Bush would not confirm that Dezi Freeman was the man shot and killed in a police operation this morning, as a formal identification process is pending, but said the operation concludes the hunt for the fugitive.

• Freeman was shot after a standoff with police occurred at a property in north-east Victoria, widely understood (although not confirmed by police) to be at Walwa, near the state border with New South Wales.

• The standoff lasted for three hours, starting at about 5.30am and concluding with Freeman being shot by police just after 8.30am this morning.

• Freeman was found inside what Bush described as “a cross between a [shipping] container and a very long caravan”.

• Bush said Freeman was given “an opportunity to surrender peacefully” but did not.

• Bush said “everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified” but would not confirm whether Freeman had fired on police.

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.