WHAT WAS CLAIMED
There’s no previous evidence two Victorian officers allegedly killed by a fugitive gunman were members of the police force.
OUR VERDICT
False. There is evidence of the police careers of both victims.
AAP FACTCHECK - The careers of two policemen who were shot dead in Porepunkah have been well documented, despite claims on social media.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart were killed at a property near Porepunkah, 300km northeast of Melbourne, on August 26, 2025.
The two officers were part of a team attempting to serve a search warrant relating to alleged child sex offending, the ABC has reported.
The alleged gunman, Dezi Freeman - also known as Desmond Filby - fled into bushland and the incident has become the subject of a range of baseless conspiracy theories online.
Multiple posts on social media claim there is no evidence the slain pair were police officers before the shooting.
One Facebook post reads: "As of the current date (30 August 2025), there are no publicly available press releases, official records, or media reports from before 26 August 2025 that mention Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson in connection with his policing career.
"All information about his 38-year service with Victoria Police … originates from official statements, news releases, and tributes issued after his death on 26 August 2025."
In a separate post, the same user claims there is "zero media or public record before August 26, 2025" of either Det Snr Const Thompson or Snr Const De Waart.
"Searches yield only posthumous tributes, no court cases, arrests, or news. Were they real, or fabricated for the narrative? 'No history for cops? Smells like a hoax'."
The post also refers to "the complete lack of evidence that the Late Police officers existed before the 26th of August".
The careers of both, however, are clearly documented online before August 26, 2025.
Victoria Police published a statement detailing that Det Snr Const Thompson joined Victoria Police in 1987 and spent seven years based at Collingwood Police Station, Melbourne, before working as a detective at the Major Fraud Squad and the State Crime Squad.
In 2007 he transferred to Wangaratta, 70km west of Porepunkah.
He had recently been assigned to work for Wangaratta's sexual offences and child abuse investigations team, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
There are numerous news reports of Det Snr Const Thompson's police work in the region, including in The Border Mail, The Alpine Observer and Wangaratta Chronicle.
These include stories dating from 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023 and early 2025, with some featuring photos of the detective, including in 2017.
Snr Const De Waart-Hottart began training to join the police force in December 2018 and went on to work at St Kilda Police Station for three years before joining the Public Order Response Team in April 2023, according to a Victoria Police statement.
At the time of the Porepunkah incident, he was a week into a secondment to the region, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
A 2020 Facebook post on a Victoria Police page shows the young constable in uniform holding a portrait of himself painted by a local resident.
He's quoted as saying he met the artist at St Kilda Police Station and "felt proud to serve as a police officer".
The post's edit history shows it has not been edited.
Snr Const De Waart-Hottart's LinkedIn page shows he joined Victoria Police in 2019, having previously worked in a series of hospitality jobs.
A number of his social media posts refer to his work in the police force, including a Facebook post of himself with a superimposed police ribbon in 2020.
The previous month he'd posted he was "Starting a new Life Chapter in St Kilda, Melbourne", which is consistent with when he started work at St Kilda Police Station.
In December 2023, he posted a picture of Nintendo character Donkey Kong in police uniform captioned: "Overworked. Undervalued. ALWAYS THERE."
Snr Const De Waart-Hottart also had acting experience.
Profiles on StarNow and IMDb reveal he had a lead role in small-budget Belgian film Le Songe in 2006, later appearing in commercials and with a theatre company for two years.
The images on the StarNow website are also visible on his Facebook page.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube.
