Siede was doing some maintenance work when he heard the bangs.

Glenn and Andrea Siede own a caravan park near the property where two police officers were shot dead by a suspected sovereign citizen. Credit: Tys Occhiuzzi/SBS News

“It was a few gunshots,” he told SBS News on Wednesday at his Mount Buffalo caravan park, a four-minute drive from the property where the officers were shot dead.

“We’re surrounded by bush, and there’s a lot of deer hunting going around here, so we just thought, yeah, right on, somebody’s out there.”

The property believed to be where two Victorian police officers were murdered in Porepunkah. Source: AAP / Simon Dallinger

A community on edge

On Wednesday, police warned everyone in the town to “be vigilant” and stay indoors, with the “heavily-armed” gunman still on the loose.

Police at the Porepunkah property where two Victoria Police officers were allegedly murdered. Source: AAP / Simon Dallinger

“They [the police] just kept saying: ‘Just get all your keys out your cars, make sure everyone’s safe and lock yourselves in’,” Andrea Siede, who co- owns the caravan parks, said.

“So the poor police have got some dealings there. There’s a lot of mine shafts and gold shafts and dugouts up in that bush. They’ve got some challenges, and I feel sorry for them.”

Dezi Freeman featured in a 2018 episode of A Current Affair. Credit: SUPPLIED/PR IMAGE

Who is Dezi Freeman?

He originally appealed to the County Court, where he was acquitted of the speeding charge but remained convicted over the other two offences, and then asked for the higher court to review the decision.

‘It’s really shocking’

— With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.