Accused murderer Malcolm Naden, who shot a police officer before fleeing into dense and rugged bushland in northern NSW, is continuing to evade a police manhunt.
Poor weather and difficult terrain hampered Thursday's search for Naden, who is a Most Wanted Person and has been on the run since 2005.
The search by the Tactical Operations Unit has continued for a second day after Naden shot a 33-year-old officer as police cornered him at a remote campsite in the Nowendoc area on Wednesday morning.
The team never saw Naden, but believe he was the gunman who fired a single shot from a rifle before slipping away.
Poor weather on Thursday grounded search helicopters and police were unable to access some rugged areas they believe the experienced bushman may have frequented.
"We are obviously assessing the validity of the operation regularly," Assistant Commissioner Dave Hudson told reporters during a briefing on Thursday.
"If unfortunately we don't locate him on this occasion, I'm quite confident in the future we will locate him."
Police could call off the search based on a number of factors.
"We're assessing that, based on threats to our officers, risks to them, on the viability of the operation based on the weather conditions and everything else," Mr Hudson said.
Naden disappeared in June 2005 from his grandparents' home in west Dubbo, days before 24-year-old mother-of-two Kristy Scholes was found strangled in his bedroom.
He is also wanted over the indecent assault of a 15-year-old girl in Dubbo in 2004 and for questioning over the disappearance of another 24-year-old woman in January 2005.
The current operation is the seventh time police have tried to capture him.
Mr Hudson said officers were searching specific areas Naden is believed to have frequented instead of deploying a blanket approach.
"That has been tried on previous attempts to locate Naden and he's escaped the net," he said.
"We have targeted several areas that we believe there may have been evidence of his presence. Those attempts so far have proven unsuccessful."
Naden is known to travel alone through isolated areas, and steal weapons and other items from homes in remote locations.
"He's totally self-reliant and very well-crafted at living off the land," Mr Hudson said.
The officer Naden shot was wounded in the shoulder and treated in hospital before being released on Wednesday.
Police are prepared to shoot Naden if he uses a firearm to escape future capture.
"That's obviously a major concern after what happened yesterday (Wednesday)," Mr Hudson said.
Police have released digitally enhanced photos of what Naden could look like today, in the hope of jogging the memory of anyone who might have seen him.
There's a $250000 reward for information that leads to his capture and conviction.
No comments:
Post a Comment