The best friend of slain police officer Neal Thompson says the police killing of Dezi Freeman is "a relief".Police shot dead the fugitive gunman at a property in Victoria's north-east shortly after 8:30 this morning.Freeman had been wanted since August over the fatal shooting of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart at Porepunkah on August 26.Dezi Freeman shooting live updates: Follow our blog for details on how and when the stand-off endedJohn Bird, one of Mr Thompson's best friends, said news of Freeman's death brought with it a sense of relief."I don't mean that in a bad way, but it's the finalisation of it It doesn't bring Thommo back or anything like that, but now there's less talk about it."But it is a good day because at least the person who caused it is not drawing breath anymore."Mr Thompson was also a fixture in Anita Cook's early mornings.He was often one of the first into her Moyhu cafe — regularly ordering a coffee and a bacon and egg muffin before his shift."It's just a relief for Neal's sake," she said."[And] that there's been closure and for Vadim's family too."Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the families of the slain officers were among the first told of Freeman's death."I believe this has brought closure to them," he said.Commissioner Bush said had Freeman taken his own life, the families would not have had the same sense of closure."That would have been difficult to bring closure, so this has brought closure," he said.Victoria Police said no officers were injured in the incident.Mr Bird said he learned of Freeman's death while at work