Police have warned anyone caught harbouring a fugitive accused of shooting dead two officers will face serious consequences as the "protracted search" continues.

"What I would say to the community and say to anyone who may be considering harbouring or supporting him, they need to reconsider," Deputy Commissioner Regional Operations Russell Barrett said.

"They're committing a criminal offence, and we will prosecute them."

- AAP

Deputy Commissioner Russell Barrett addressed the police operation at a nearby home on Mt Buffalo Road, where specialist units were seen with guns drawn.

He said police were searching a number of properties in the area.

"There's a number of enquiries open to us and we're working through those systematically," he said.

There has been speculation Dezi Freeman has access to media and is following reports of the developing situation. Superintendent Brett Kahan said he had one message to Freeman if he was listening.

"Ring Triple-0," he told reporters.

"We will support a surrender plan, that option is open to him."

Deputy Commissioner of Regional Operations Russell Barrett is addressing media now and has confirmed alleged gunman Dezi Freeman has not been found.

Deputy Commissioner Barrett said police "will not rest" until he is brought into custody, which is their main goal in what he described as a "complex" operation.

Heavily armed police descended on a property this morning near the site where Dezi Freeman allegedly shot dead two police officers, the Herald Sun reports.

The property is on Mt Buffalo Road, the main road which the shooting property's track connects with. Vision obtained by the Herald Sun shows police with weapons raised circling the building. One female member of the public could be seen directing police on the site.

It's unclear what information police received or what they found. Victoria Police says it will give an update to the public at 2pm where more information may be shared.

Porepunkah locals believe alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman would see suicide in the remote bush as “sweet revenge”, forcing police to waste resources searching for his body.

The manhunt for the self-proclaimed sovereign citizen has now entered its third day, with police revealing there have been no confirmed sightings of the alleged gunman since Tuesday. More than 100 personnel are on the ground as they scour the local area.

Police have warned Freeman is believed to be “heavily armed” and has an extensive knowledge of the area’s bushland.

One Porepunkah resident who wished not to be named told NewsWire on Thursday morning that he suspected the alleged gunman would see this as “sweet revenge”.

“If he’s (dead) in some hidey-hole, they won’t find him for months. That would be his ultimate, sweet revenge,” he said.

Freeman's ability to evade police has been heavily discussed by locals. One coffee shop worker in neighbouring Bright told the Herald Sun police "won't catch him".

With NewsWire

Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, one of the two officers shot dead at the Porepunkah property, had built up a rapport with alleged gunman Dezi Freeman, sources have told The Age.

They say Thompson's previous police encounters with Freeman was the reason he was chosen to execute the warrant at the property and he was the first to knock at the property before being gunned down, the sources said.

Senior Constable Thompson, 59, was due to retire in just weeks and was looking forward to spending time with his partner Lisa.

The weather has been a big talking point during the search, with rain hampering the search for Dezi Freeman.

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush stressed special units are well trained to handle such conditions, but did note Freeman would likely be better placed to navigate an area he knew well.

Developing winds as well as falling temperatures could prove difficult for Freeman, particularly if his clothing became sodden in the persistent rain.

While temperatures fell to 7.3C early this morning, the Bureau of Meteorology says the temperature at 7.30am felt like 1.8C. The mercury is expected to drop even lower tonight with a low of 3C. By Sunday, the low is forecast to be 0C.

And to make matters worse, visibility is poor.

The ABC's Kate Meade, who is on the ground in Porepunkah, said the cloud cover was very low earlier this morning.

"I can't see anything right now... once again it's going to be a trying day for everyone out here," she said.

Victoria Police say "severe weather conditions" have "complicated" movement on the ground in Porepunkah.

It's led police to urging media to take extreme care in the and avoid key search areas and the property where the shooting took place.

"Police only have a finite number of resources available and they are strongly concentrated on locating this individual," police warned.

Hello and welcome back to Yahoo's live coverage of the Porepunkah police shooting.

Alleged gunman Dezi Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby, has yet to be found by police. He is accused of shooting two police officers dead and injuring at a rural property.

Locals have been forced into lockdown in Porepunkah, which Victoria Police admits is "not ideal" but is necessary to protect their safety.

Porepunkah Primary School will however be open on Thursday with police protection.

Victoria Police has revealed the names of the two officers killed in the Porepunkah shooting on Tuesday.

Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35, were the two officers shot dead as they executed a warrant at the property.

“This devastating loss of Neal and Vadim has struck at the heart of Victoria Police, the broader policing family and the community of Porepunkah," Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said.

“In the coming days, weeks and months, we will all grieve this loss and deeply miss our colleagues and friends who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty."

Senior Constable Thompson joined Victoria Police in 1987 and was planning for his retirement with his partner Lisa in just a matter of weeks. "Together with Lisa, Neal had built a new home and had a long list of tasks planned after he knocked off work for the last time," police said.

Senior Constable De Waart joined the Victoria Police Academy in 2018. He was on temporary assignment in Wangaratta when he was killed. He recently purchased his first home in Melbourne and is originally from Belgium.

"An eternal optimist and avid traveller, Vadim was fluent in French, Spanish, Flemish and English. He had also completed scuba dives all around the world and motorcycling trips more locally with his friends and colleagues," police said.

As well as a photo of Dezi Freeman, police have shared what he was wearing when he fled officers yesterday.

"He was last seen wearing dark green (khaki) tracksuit pants, dark green rain jacket, brown Blundstone boots and reading glasses," Victoria Police said.

Police said he is 183cm tall of medium build with short dark hair and brown eyes.

Police have now released a photo of Dezi Freeman to the public. They referred to him by his other name Desmond Filby, and called for anyone who sees him to immediately contact Triple-0.

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush earlier thanked media for how widely images of him had been spread.

The following Google Earth imagery shows just how steep the terrain immediately to the west and south of the property where Dezi Freeman allegedly shot two police officers dead is.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said 100 highly-trained personnel are scouring dense bush for Freeman, who he says has extensive knowledge of the area as well as strong survival skills.

Survival instructor Gordon Dedman told the ABC in the right conditions, Freeman could survive for weeks in the bushland if he remained undetected.

While Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush has only been in the job since June, Tuesday's incident is not the first high-profile shooting he has overseen in his long career.

Commissioner Bush was New Zealand's Commissioner of Police for six years from 2014. In 2019, he oversaw the Christchurch mosque shootings, where an Australian gunman killed 51 people.

A year later, Commissioner Bush was made a Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit, recognised for his services to New Zealand policing.

He described Tuesday's shooting a "tragic event" and said he would be doing what he could to ensure the deceased officers' families received all the support they need.

New photos of the property where the shooting is believed to have taken place have been captured by AAP.

The semi-rural property which spans several hectares has a number of buildings, with one main structure as pictured below. Dezi Freeman reportedly lived on a bus on site with his partner and children.

The sole entrance to the plot was blocked off by a car on Wednesday. Unconfirmed reports suggest several people live on the property. One man who said he lived there spoke with media telling them they were trespassing by being on the track.

A no-fly zone has been implemented in the Porepunkah area until at least Friday.

"Given the suspect in this matter is heavily armed, this condition has been granted due to the risk to aircraft and drones, as well as potential implications associated with the suspect tracking police movements," Victoria Police said.

Tuesday's deadly shooting has naturally drawn comparisons to the 2022 ambush which killed Constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold in Queensland's Wieambilla.

They were shot dead as they attended a rural property as part of a missing persons investigation. Brothers Nathaniel and Gareth Train, alongside his wife Stacey, opened fire and killed the constables while two officers fled for their lives.

All three Trains were shot dead by specialist police hours later after refusing to negotiate or surrender.

The similarities between Wieambilla and Porepunkah are alarming, extremist expert Joe McIntyre said.

"Both of these are in the regions. These are people who see a distrust of society and want to remove themselves from it," the University of South Australia Associate Professor told AAP.

A coronial inquest into the Wieambilla attack heard the Trains were motivated by religious extremism, believing police were persecuting them amid a battle between God and Satan.

The Trains were not deemed sovereign citizens, people who believe state authority is illegitimate and individuals have residual sovereignty.

Dr McIntyre believes police should have been treating Freeman with extra caution due to his history of pseudo-law litigation.

The Porepunkah shooting is the deadliest incident for police deaths in Victoria since four constables died in 2020 when they were struck by a truck on a Melbourne highway.

With AAP

Police say they are entertaining all possibilities regarding Dezi Freeman's whereabouts.

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said it was “possible” the alleged gunman was hiding in a bunker or had set up traps in the area.

A neighbour who knew Freeman agreed with police who said he was experienced with the surrounding landscape.

"He's well-versed in the bush and there's caves up there, so it'll be a while before they find him, I think," they told the ABC.

There is light rain falling in Victoria's northeast which will undoubtedly hamper search efforts.

The ABC's Leanne Wong, who is in Porepunkah, says "the ground right now is very wet and muddy, quite slippery".

The small town is at the base of Mount Buffalo in the Aline Shire, and is surrounded by a range of steep inclines as well as dense bushland.

Chief Commissioner Mike Bush earlier noted alleged gunman Dezi Freeman knows the area well and will be well accustomed to the terrain.

The Bureau of Meteorology says up to 16mm of rain could fall in the area in the 9-hour window to 7pm.