Two people were arrested as part of the investigation into fugitive police killer Dezi Freeman.

A man and a woman were arrested about 7am today at two properties in north-east Victoria, police said.

Police confirmed the arrests were part of the probe into the movements of Freeman following the shootings in Porepunkah last August.

Police said the pair were associates of Freeman but not family. They've since been released from custody pending further inquiries.

Police said anyone found to have been harbouring Freeman could face up to 20 years behind bars.

Freeman was hiding out in something that resembled a shipping container and a caravan in Thologolong north-east of Porepunkah and on the border with NSW.

The seven-month manhunt ended in a hail of bullets outside his hiding place, with the fugitive understood to have fired two shots before police returned fire up to 20 times.

Special Operations Group members had spent three hours at the property attempting to negotiate a peaceful surrender with Freeman before multiple shots were fired.

"He fired two shots and eight police responded. He was shot at least 20 times," The Age crime writer John Silvester told 3AW.

"In all probability, the gun was shot out of his hand because it was some distance away."

Investigators had been tracking a car coming and going from 56-year-old Freeman's hideout before he was killed in a shootout about 8.30am on Monday, 9News understands.

9News has been told officers had been surveilling Freeman for several days after watching the car, which repeatedly made the almost 200-kilometre trip between Porepunkah and Thologolong, located on the Victoria-NSW border.

Police have asserted it would have been very difficult for the fugitive to remain hidden for so long without help.

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