A 61-year-old man has been arrested and interviewed by detectives investigating the whereabouts of a man accused of killing two police officers.
The hunt for the alleged gunman Dezi Freeman is in its fifth day, with hundreds of police continuing to scour Victoria’s high country wilderness in the face of strong winds and chilly conditions.
Freeman, 56, who has fled into the bush, is alleged to have killed two police officers and injured a third on Tuesday in Porepunkah, north-east of Melbourne.
Victoria police on Saturday said they had arrested a man at a property in Bright, about 6km from Porepunkah.
The arrest follows the execution of a search warrant about 4.45pm on Friday, in which guns and cannabis were seized from the home.
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The man was being interviewed by investigators on Saturday afternoon.
When asked whether the man was associated with Freeman, a Victoria police spokesperson said that line of inquiry would form part of the interview conducted by detectives.
Freeman is accused of killing Det Leading Sen Const Neal Thompson, 59, and Sen Const Vadim De Waart, 35.
Tough conditions have hampered search efforts with thunderstorms, lashings of rain and hail battering the rural town.
More than 450 police officers have been deployed to Porepunkah as part of the search, which has included examining disused mines, caves and dugouts in and around the rural community.
Victoria police issued a statement on Saturday afternoon saying the force would be relocating its forward command post from Feathertop Winery just outside Porepunkah to a government office in the town of Ovens, about 12km away.
“The new site is a fit-for-purpose facility and will best support Victoria Police’s operational activity moving forward,” the statement said.
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Freeman’s 42-year-old wife, Mali, and a 15-year-old boy were arrested on Thursday night after an operation at an address in Porepunkah, before they were interviewed and released.
“There may or may not be charges that follow,” said the Victoria police chief commissioner, Mike Bush.
A weekly parkrun event in nearby Bright was cancelled on Saturday after police “recommended this is the best thing to do”, organisers said on social media.
Freeman, who has bush survival experience, was last seen in dark green tracksuit pants, a dark green rain jacket, Blundstone boots and reading glasses, police said.
Freeman has a history of association with pseudolaw and “sovereign citizen” ideas.