Dramatic police siege ends with discovery of man's body in Townsville home
Residents were told to lock their doors and stay inside as the siege unfolded into Monday morning.
A police standoff with a gunman in Queensland’s north has reportedly come to a dramatic end on Monday morning after residents in Townsville were warned to stay inside and lock their doors.
Emergency services were called to Kirwin on the city’s outskirts at around 8pm on Sunday following reports a man armed with a gun was alone inside a home.
Once at the property, the responding officers’ vehicles were allegedly hit when the gunman fired several shots in the direction of police.
Police officers plead with gunman to ‘put weapons down’
An emergency declaration was announced at around 9pm under the Public Safety Preservation Act, with an area of suburbia stretching about 2 kilometres being put into lockdown.
As locals woke on Monday morning, police were appealing to members of the public within the exclusion zone to stay inside their homes and lock the doors.
Specialist police negotiators were on the scene, attempting to diffuse the situation with the gunman who had barricaded himself inside the property with at least one rifle and a shotgun, The Courier Mail reported.
“This is for your safety and our safety, you leave the weapons inside,” police told the gunman over a loudspeaker. “You’re already fired off some shots tonight, the situation is dangerous. You need to put down the weapons and come out of the house.”
Man's body found as neighbours waited out siege
The siege reportedly came to an end around 7am this morning as the exclusion zone was rescinded and police found the body of a 50-year-old man inside the home, The Courier Mail reported.
He has since been named by the publication as Mark Raisin and it's understood he once served in the Royal Australian Air Force.
Earlier one neighbour who reported hearing multiple shots said a group of people had all retreated together.
“I’ve never been around something like this, it’s a bit wild,” she told The Courier Mail. “[But] I am just feeling supportive. Everyone is a bit on edge but we are all surrounding each other and it’s calming everyone’s nerves.”
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