Rockhampton school secured after man with knives holes up at nearby unit

Incredible footage shows what happened when specialist Qld police swarmed a home during a standoff which kept a suburb on edge for 10 hours. NEW VIDEO.

Retching and spitting, a shirtless man who had put a suburb edge for 10 hours while he was holed up armed with a machete and knives in a unit 50m from a Rockhampton school surrendered peacefully to specialist police not long after they arrived.

Locals living near the Campbell St unit, situated between Rockhampton State High School and Eventide Home Rockhampton, do not know why he surrendered and could not hear over the sirens blaring while he walked with his hands raised high towards officers dressed head-to-toe in black.

A man armed with a machete and knives surrendered to specialist police after holding them at bay for more than 10 hours at a Campbell St unit just 50 metres from Rockhampton State High School on December 4, 2024. Contributed photo: Jayden Barnham

Neighbour Jayden Barnham said his demeanour when the highly specialised police arrived in Rockhampton to assist their colleagues was in stark contrast to his response when he first barricaded himself in the unit nine hours earlier, about 10.30am.

Mr Barnham said the man came out about 9pm according to Queensland Police, not long after officers from the Public Safety Response Team (PSRT) arrived.

“When they rocked up, he came out pretty quick,” he said.

“As soon as they started blaring the siren to try and get him alert and wake him up - I don’t know if he was asleep or not - as soon as he saw the guys out the front with the shields and stuff, he just started losing his sh*t again - just a bunch of swearing and stuff.”

Mr Barnham said the man appeared to be under the influence, saying “his facial expressions were completely off”.

“Throughout the day, the negotiator tried to talk to him,” he said.

“I’m pretty sure he tried to go to sleep, and he wasn’t responding to the negotiator. They spent probably four or five hours trying to communicate with him.

Police attending an incident on Campbell Street on December 4, 2024.

“That was probably from 3pm until about 7pm.

“He just stayed inside for most of the day.”

The man was taken into custody and to Rockhampton Hospital but has since been discharged.

The stretch of Campbell St between the Rockhampton Showgrounds roundabout and North St was closed throughout the siege.

Neighbours heard the man yelling and police arrived about 10.40am for a welfare check.

A police officer pulled his gun when cops swarmed the Campbell St set of two-storey apartments where the man could be seen wielding a machete and a knife in front of the unit but behind a fence.

Fifteen police were there as of 11.45am, including at least one negotiator, looking inside the building.

Mr Barnham said the man had three or four knives and alleged he had been throwing items at police.

A man armed with a machete and knives 50m from Rockhampton State High School.

He said it appeared the man was under the influence.

Mr Barnham said it was the first time he had seen something like this happen but others had seen incidents like this, not necessarily in relation to this man.

The police spokeswoman said no one had been physically injured and no threats had been made.

The school posted to Facebook that it was secure and at the end of the day all buses and pick ups were switched to Exhibition Rd and a number of staff to direct children.

Police attending an incident on Campbell Street on December 4, 2024.

During the siege, Queensland Police Service spokesman said the man was not a threat to the public.

Mr Barnham said he had not seen the man since the man was taken into police custody.

“From what I heard, he doesn’t live there,” he said.

“No doubt he won’t be back there at all, I don’t think.

“I think if there’s a stand-off with police for ten-plus hours, officers were threatened, I think there should be some sort of higher recourse of action that should have been taken.”