Two men arrested in connection to Dezi Freeman’s movements after Porepunkah shootings | Victoria

Two men have been arrested in connection with Porepunkah attacker Dezi Freeman, who killed two police officers and then went on the run for months.

On Tuesday police said detectives arrested the men, aged 48 and 35, at two locations in north-east Victoria as part of Operation Summit, the investigation into Freeman’s movements following the Porepunkah shooting.

“The duo will now be interrogated by the police,” the police said.

“The investigation is ongoing and we are therefore not in a position to provide further details at this time.”

Freeman shot and killed Detective Sen Const Neal Thompson, 59, and Sen Const Vadim De Waart-Hottart, 35, and injured a third officer at a property in Porepunkah in August.

The two officers were part of a group of 10 officers, including local officers and members of the sexual offenses and child abuse investigation team, who entered the property, about 210km north-east of Melbourne, on August 26 to serve a search warrant before shots were allegedly opened by Freeman.

Freeman, 56, who had a history with pseudo-legal or “sovereign citizen” ideology, allegedly fled into the bush heavily armed and a high-profile manhunt began.

The seven-month search for Freeman ended with his death after being shot by police on March 30 at a remote property at Thologolong, near Walwa on the Victoria-New South Wales border.

The arrests came a day after the coroner’s court held two separate directions hearings into the deaths of two police officers and the latest shooting involving Freeman.

There’s no set date for either, but both could happen next year.

State coroner Liberty Sanger heard officers arrived at Freeman’s property on August 26 to execute a search warrant following disclosure of an allegation of sexual assault involving a child under 16, as well as an attempt to involve a child in the production of child abuse material.

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