A manhunt for a heavily armed accused police killer has entered its third day, with wintry conditions complicating search efforts.

Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35, were shot dead while attempting to serve a search warrant at a Porepunkah property on Tuesday.

Another wounded officer is expected to recover after undergoing surgery.

The accused gunman Dezi Freeman – also known as Desmond Filby – fled into bushland, plunging the town of about 1000 residents in Victoria's high country into lockdown.

Porepunkah Primary School reopened to students on Thursday after it went into lockdown following the shooting.

However, police reiterated warnings for community members to stay indoors as they battle the elements in the hunt for the accused gunman.

Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart were killed. – AAP

The township in the state's northeast is 280m above sea level and close to Mount Buffalo, where several centimetres of snow fell on Wednesday.

Snow is forecast to fall above 900m in the area on Thursday, with maximum day-time temperatures tipped to hover between 5C and 13C.

Meteorologist Helen Reid said snow down could fall to 600m in Victoria as a cold snap descends  on parts of SA, Tasmania, Victoria and NSW from Friday.

"Higher parts of the mountains, especially near the Victorian-NSW border, could get half a metre of snow during this outbreak," she said.

Victorian Police at the scene. – AAP

Overnight, Melbourne's iconic landmarks were lit up in blue to honour the dead officers.

Flinders Street Station, the Shrine of Remembrance and Parliament House were among the buildings bathed in blue.

Flags remained at half-mast at government buildings on Thursday.

Victorian Police Minister Anthony Carbines said he was confident police had the situation in hand as the major air and land search rolls on in severe weather.

"It's a complex operation and they're throwing everything at it," he told ABC Radio.

Community members have paid their respects at the nearby Wangaratta police station, where the foyer is laden with colourful bouquets of flowers in memory of the fallen officer.

Premier Jacinta Allan expressed her deepest sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of the two officers.

"It's a very physical way that we can say to the men and women of Victoria Police, we stand with you, we support you, we care for you, we love you, particularly in this time of grief," she said.

"We continue to provide every support necessary to the work of Victoria Police as they deal with this individual who perpetrated this most evil and awful of criminal acts."

The 56-year-old suspect, who has bush survival experience, was last seen wearing dark green tracksuit pants, a dark green rain jacket, brown Blundstone boots and reading glasses, police said.

He is believed to be a sovereign citizen, an ideology that questions government authority and whose followers believe the rule of law doesn't apply to them, and who disassociate from society.

Suspect Dezi Freeman in a 2018 TV interview. – AAP

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The bushland hunt for accused cop killer

What is Dezi Freeman accused of doing?

• Freeman shot dead two officers, a 59-year-old detective and a 35-year-old senior constable, at a rural property in Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of Melbourne.
• A third officer was wounded and is recovering in Melbourne's Alfred hospital after undergoing surgery.
• The trio and seven other officers were there to serve a search warrant related to a specialist investigation team.
• The other officers had to "hunker down" and await police back-up and are believed to have returned fire.
• Freeman fled into dense bushland and remained on the run as of Wednesday.
• There is no hostage situation, with his partner and children going to a police station on Tuesday night.

Who is Dezi Freeman?

• A 56-year-old local known for having views consistent with the sovereign citizen movement.
• He and his family were featured in a 2018 segment on Nine's A Current Affair about a dispute with neighbours at their then Mount Buffalo property.
• Freeman, who also goes by Filby, tried to arrest a magistrate during a hearing in Wangaratta Magistrates Court in 2019.
• He told a podcast at the time he was a photographer from Myrtleford in the state's northeast and made a series of "pseudolaw" statements.
• Freeman was arrested outside Myrtleford Magistrates Court in 2021 after the failed private prosecution of then-state premier Daniel Andrews for treason.
• His appeal against a two-year driving ban, in which he represented himself and expressed hatred of police, was thrown out in 2024.

Where is he?

• Police have been unable to pinpoint Freeman's whereabouts, with no confirmed sighting.
• A massive air and ground search has been mobilised across a wide area of thick bushland.
• Police say Freeman is an experienced bushman and concede he knows the area better.
• He is believed to be armed with multiple powerful guns.
• Locals have been told to stay home and avoid the general area of Porepunkah.
• There is no evidence he has crossed the border into NSW, police say.
• NSW Police have been briefed and are on the lookout.

A large contingent of police at a stage area at Feathertop Winery in Porepunkah. – AAP