Two people have been arrested as part of the 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 on Saturday morning around 7am.

“Detectives from Taskforce Summit arrested two people 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 spokesperson from Victoria Police said.

“They will now be interviewed by police,” a police spokeswoman said in a statement.

“The investigation remains ongoing and as such, we are not in a position to provide further details at this immediate time.”

Police confirmed the two people were not related to Freeman but associates.

Speaking at Thologolong on Monday after Freeman was killed, Victoria police chief commissioner Mike Bush said the fugitive left the building he was staying in with something similar to a blanket cloaking his shoulders, before he “presented” a gun to police. Multiple officers from the special operations group then fired on Freeman.

“The deceased was given every opportunity to resolve this peacefully, and did not take that option,” Bush said.

“I have seen video of the deceased leaving the building and presenting a firearm at our officers … that action took away any discretion our officers had to resolve this peacefully.

“Everyone wanted this to end peacefully, everyone wanted closure, unfortunately we only have one of those two things.”

Bush told reporters police believe the Freeman must have had help to survive for seven months in the bush.

“We will track backwards from here to work out how long he’s been here, and who helped him to be here,” he said. “If anyone was complicit, they will be held to account.”