Armed siege ends quietly

Press, 20 July 1979, Page 1

Armed siege ends quietly

A man gave himself up to the Christchurch police armed offenders squad last evening after firing two rifle shots through a telephone directory in the hallway of his St Albans home. An hour-long police siege of the Rutland Street house ended at 5.55 p.m. when the man, aged 26, climbed out unarmed through a window. He was told to put his

hands above his head and armed offenders squad members moved in. The arrested man will appear in the Magistrate’s Court this morning charged with threatening to kill, being drunk in charge of a firearm, and discharging a firearm in a dwelling. The armed offenders squad was called out after the police had been told at

4.20 p.m. that a man had fired a rifle in the house and that a woman had taken refuge in a neighbour’s home.

All available police patrols were sent to the area and the house was surrounded. By 5 p.m. the police and Ministry of Transport men had cordoned four streets: Rutland Street, Hawkesbury Avenue,

Browns Road, and Somme Street. At the end of the siege many residents who had been returning home were waiting at the police cordons. The police spoke to the man .by telephone during the incident, which had a domestic background. A .22-calibre rifle was later taken from the house.