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Police declare emergency situation at Elizabeth Street, Woodend

UPDATE: Police have stormed a unit where a gunman was holed up in a siege west of Brisbane overnight, finding him unconscious with a broken leg. His alleged victim also has a broken leg, police say.

AAP and Nathan Torpey
3 min read
June 6, 2016 - 12:48PM
Stand-off in Ipswich

A TENSE stand-off between police and an injured gunman in an apartment west of Brisbane has ended.

The stand-off at a unit in the Ipswich suburb of Woodend began after the man was involved in a fight at the property in the early hours of Monday.

A police spokesman said officers entered the unit and apprehended the man after he became unresponsive.

The emergency situation declared at 12.52am was revoked after he was taken into custody at 10.05am.

Ipswich Police Inspector Michael Trezise said police entered the unit at 9.30am where the man was taken into custody and treated for a broken leg and facial injuries by paramedics.

“The call was made to go into the unit as he was unresponsive,” Inspector Trezise said.

“We treat all these matters very seriously until we determine otherwise. Police responded appropriately as there earlier reports that he was armed and agitated.”

A female occupant was also injured in the siege and taken to Ipswich Hospital in what police believe was a domestic situation.

“She has a broken leg,” Inspector Trezise said.

“He also has a broken leg that happened before police arrived and some facial injuries.”

“We used no force at all. None of the injuries obtained by the offender were caused by the police.”

Kimberley Carroll, a next door neighbour who found the woman outside calling for help and alerted police said the pair only moved in a week earlier.

“She was lying on the ground outside and I went down to help her,” she said.

“She couldn’t move when I found her and was telling me that her partner had kicked her out and had a gun upstairs.”

“I usually don’t want to get involved but I couldn’t leave her out in the cold.”

Another neighbour who wished not to be named said her family was kept up all night by the commotion.

“There were police everywhere lining the streets in homes, yards and up trees,” she said.

“We heard the loud speakers going all night long telling the fellow to put down his weapon and come out.”

EARLIER: AN injured man armed with a gun is holding police at bay in a tense stand-off west of Brisbane.

There’s a heavy police presence outside a unit in the Ipswich suburb of Woodend, after the gunman was involved in a fight at the property early on Monday.

Police say the gunman threatened two other men who’d been inside the unit.

A woman who was found unconscious inside the property was helped outside by police and has been taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The gunman is now alone inside the property and is refusing to co-operate with police negotiators. Reports suggest police will send a camera into the home.

“We know he’s received some injuries. We are extremely reluctant to force entry ... knowing he has possession of weapons,” Ipswich Inspector Keith McDonald has told ABC radio.

“We have two witnesses who were in the unit at the time who were threatened with a long arm.

“He’s just not co-operating with police, with negotiators.”

The ambulance service said the woman, aged in her 30s, suffered back and leg injuries.

An emergency situation was declared about 1am on Monday after police were called to the scene following reports of a disturbance.

Elizabeth St, where the unit is located, remains blocked off.

EARLIER: Police have declared an emergency situation in Woodend, in central Ipswich, this morning.

Police were called to a disturbance on Elizabeth St around 8.30pm last night, and a woman was taken from the scene with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

A man remains in a home on the street, and a declaration was made at 12.52am under the Public Safety and Preservation Act.

Elizabeth Street is currently blocked by police and negotiators are at the scene.

“We have credible information that the man is in possession of a firearm which is why we are negotiating and not entering the premises,” a Queensland Police spokesman said.

“A request for a Special Emergency Response Team team has been made, but we are focusing on negotiations first, though the situation may change throughout the day.”

Police believe the man and woman were known to each other and in a relationship.

More to come

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/police-declare-emergency-situation-at-elizabeth-street-woodend/news-story/914f6a0ab1ccc23aa8136280a938f551