“I strongly oppose anybody doing that,” Thomas said.
“He has already killed two police members and seriously wounded a third. His propensity for using violence has been shown.
“We have highly skilled specialist police officers out there in the bushland.
“They are armed, and we don’t want people being out there in that area for our police officers to perhaps mistake them for being Freeman and finding themselves in a situation where they have been confronted by our officers.”
Thomas said the reward was one of a number of investigative techniques being used in the hunt.
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“It’s not an act of desperation, and it’s far from it,” the detective said.
“Victoria Police always have that as an avenue, as an option to use. We are using this because we think it’s now time.
“We’re into day 12. We are not at an end. We still have active lines of inquiry that we continue to pursue, and we are very buoyed by the information that we have had come in to date.”
But the detective said police did not know whether Freeman was sheltering in the thick bushland, dotted with caves and abandoned mine shafts in the area around Mount Buffalo, being sheltered by sympathisers or had fled the area altogether.
“There is also the chance that he is dead, as a result of self-harm. We are open to all those possibilities,” Thomas said.
Thomas said that the hundreds of armed police scouring the area around Freeman’s last known whereabouts were searching potential hideouts.
“They are being searched. We continue to clear the mine shafts and caves with our experts,” he said.
The detective said the reward could potentially be claimed without the informant having to give evidence against Freeman in a trial.
Police are hoping that the large sum of money on offer for information would prompt someone who knew Freeman or his whereabouts to break their silence.
“There is no doubt that $1 million is a significant amount of money for anybody, and it will have lifelong changes to people’s circumstances,” Thomas said.
“We are hoping that this reward will be enough for those that may have information that have decided not to come forward before to now come forward and share that with us.
“Because this reward relates to information about his arrest, there is a strong chance that the person that provides that information to us, we may not need to speak to again.”
Announcing the reward on Saturday, Thomas vowed that Freeman “will be caught”.
Addressing Freeman directly during a press conference, Thomas said the fugitive would not “get away with this”.
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“If you are out there, you will be caught. It’s just about when, and we won’t stop until that occurs,” he said.
Freeman was last seen wearing dark khaki tracksuit pants, a dark green rain jacket, brown Blundstone boots and reading glasses.
Despite hundreds of tips, there have been no confirmed sightings of Freeman since the day he allegedly murdered Thompson and de Waart-Hottart.
A police spokesman said that while there was nothing to indicate Freeman was being assisted by a specific person, that remained a possibility given the difficult terrain in the region.
“Police are also open to the possibilities that he remains at large alone or is dead as a result of self-harm,” the spokesman said.
Thomas said it was vital that members of the public called triple zero if they saw Freeman.
“This could be sightings of Freeman, information you’re hearing in your local communities, even suspicious activity on your property – whatever it is, we want you to tell us,” he said.
“Freeman has killed two people and injured a third, and it’s immensely important that we can bring him into custody safely as soon as possible. Hopefully, this reward helps do just that.
“We believe this investigation will only be brought to resolution through assistance from members of the public, and again, I am urging anyone with any information at all to come forward and contact Crime Stoppers.”
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