LOCAL officers have been praised for their response after a siege ended peacefully in a quiet Tamworth street yesterday afternoon.
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Just before 3pm yesterday, police were put on alert after reports a man had barricaded himself in the backyard of a Petra Ave home.
Extra officers were called in to back up crews on the ground while a perimeter was established and residents were told to stay in their homes.
As neighbours watched on from windows and up the street, a local constable tried to calm the man down before a trained negotiator was brought in.
“Fortunately we’ve been able to negotiate with him and he has handed himself in nice and calmly and we will take him away and get him the appropriate help,” Oxley Inspector Jeff Budd said.
A command post was set up to co-ordinate the operation in Petra Ave and officers directed traffic away, with Petra Ave and Garden St declared a no-go zone.
Fire and Rescue NSW officers, along with ambulance paramedics, were also put on standby at the scene.
Police said they took every precaution for the situation at hand.
“Yes, we take these things very seriously – we put perimeters in place to protect the public and make sure the neighbours are nice and safe, and you know we’ve had a great resolution,” Inspector Budd said.
“Yeah, there were some residents we got to lock themselves in their house, based on the fact there could have been some issues there.”
The man, aged around 40, surrendered to police just after 3.30pm.
And they maintain he wasn’t armed during the siege.
“Look, he was in a shed which had the usual shed type tools and there could have been that situation but he didn’t arm himself, he was just quite anxious.
“At this point in time we’ve had a nice resolution and we’ll get him up and get him some medical help,” Inspector Budd said.
The peaceful end to the situation has drawn praise from one of the leading officers in the region who said police went “above and beyond”.
“One of our local negotiators, a police negotiator had been in the house with him after initial rapport was established with one of our general duties constables which was fantastic and there has been a nice easy resolution,” Inspector Budd said.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
