Victoria police arrest two people as part of Dezi Freeman investigation | Porepunkah shooting
Two men have been arrested as part of an investigation into how Porepunkah fugitive Dezi Freeman was able to survive on the run for seven months before he was shot dead last week.
A man and a woman were arrested at separate properties in north-east Victoria at around 7am on Saturday morning, but were later released.
“Detectives from Taskforce Summit arrested two men this morning as part of their ongoing investigation into the movements of Desmond Freeman following the fatal shooting of two police officers in Porepunkah last August,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
“The duo was released pending further investigations,” the spokesman said.
“The investigation is ongoing and we are therefore not in a position to provide further details at this time.”
Police confirmed the two men were not related to Freeman but were his associates.
Speaking in Thologolong on Monday after Freeman was killed, Victoria police chief Mike Bush said the fugitive left the building where he was staying with what appeared to be a blanket covering his shoulders before “showing” a gun to police. Multiple officers from the special operations group then opened fire on Freeman.
“The deceased was given every opportunity to resolve this issue peacefully, and he did not accept that option,” Bush said.
“I have seen video showing the deceased leaving the building and displaying a firearm at our officers… this action took away the discretion our officers had to resolve this issue peacefully.
“Everybody wanted this to end peacefully, everybody wanted it to be closed, unfortunately we only have one of those two things.”
Bush told reporters he told police he believed Freeman must have had help to survive seven months in the woods.
“We’ll backtrack from here to find out how long he’s been here and who helped him be here,” he said. “Whoever was a party to the crime will be held accountable.”
