Freeman’s actions - ambushing officers, stockpiling weapons, barricading, fleeing etc - don’t read as protective or reactive or panicked or defiant or even anti-authority.
They read as someone who knows what’s coming and recognises that they are cornered and culpable. He knew the knock was coming and had already decided how he’d respond. He didn't even wait to hear the warrant. He just fired.
Members of the sexual offences and child abuse investigation team (SOCIT) attended the property with local officers which, correct me if I’m wrong, suggests the case hadn’t just started and would have already passed through several layers of scrutiny and been assessed as credible. SOCIT wouldn't bother chasing shadows. They follow evidence and they would have had enough to knock on that bus door with a legally justified search warrant. Charges may have even been under consideration.
They sent in Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson because he already had a rapport with Freeman. The local officers went to the door and the SOCIT team held back. This shows some thought being given to keeping the interaction calm. They sent someone Freeman knew. Someone who had previously interacted with him. Someone chosen specifically to lower the temperature of a volatile situation. Freeman was having none of it. He immediately rejected the whole shabang - the relationship, the dialogue, the warrant, and shot Thompson as he approached the door.
Freeman wasn’t blindsided. He knew the allegation. He knew the officer. He knew the system was closing in. He was anticipating this visit, and he was bracing for impact.
He didn’t flee in panic. He vanished into an escape plan armed, dressed, and well rehearsed.
It’s just not feasible that Mali Freeman was entirely unaware. They lived together in a converted bus - a confined, intimate space where there would be no room for secrets.
