Sunnybank siege: Police were investigating hotel robbery

Police were investigating the armed robbery of a hotel when a gun was pointed at them, sparking a siege, they will allege.

A man is led away from the siege house. Picture: Tara Croser

A man allegedly pointed his gun out the window at police in a terrifying act that would spark a 26-hour stand-off with negotiators and heavily armed officers.

The allegedly armed 36-year-old, who legally cannot be named, is accused of holding his three-year-old son and a woman against their will in a hostage situation, until he was taken into custody without incident about 12.15pm on Friday.

The Courier-Mail has been told officers had a gun pointed at them as they attended the address at Sunnybank on Brisbane’s southside about 10.15am on Thursday, to talk to the man about his alleged involvement in the armed holdup of the Salisbury Hotel on Sunday, while neighbours reported seeing the man pace his balcony with a gun and a young child in his arms.

“I was woken by some yelling and screaming... (a man) mentioned a gun while he was yelling and screaming,” a neighbour said.

“I came to my front window and looked out to see three officers with their guns still drawn.”

Special Emergency Response Team members on the scene. Picture Tara Croser

The neighbour said the police were being told to back off by the man.

“I could see that he had a child in his arms … and I could see what looked like a long barrelled pistol in his hands. He was cursing and cussing so on, getting all the police to move on and away,” he said.

“It was very surreal … it was scary.”

The incident sparked an emergency response which led to the immediate closure of several Sunnybank streets.

Residents could not come or go from their homes, and streets would not reopen until after midday on Friday when the man surrendered himself after tireless negotiations by heavily armoured officers from the Special Emergency Response Team.

No one was injured during the standoff, however paramedics were on standby as a precaution.

It’s understood the man had travelled from Maryborough and had been staying at the home for two or three days to visit a woman, who the neighbour described as a lovely lady.

A man is led away after the Sunnybank siege. Picture: Tara Croser

A witness on Thursday claimed about 40 police wearing helmets, body armour and armed with large rifles stormed the area, while on Friday a negotiator could be heard calmly calling out to the man using a loudhailer.

“This is the police,” the negotiator said.

“No one wants to harm you.”

She would later urge the man to “walk towards the police” unarmed.

Talking of the work of specialist police during the tense 26 hours, Queensland Police Service Patrol Inspector Michelle Piket said police were always aiming for a peaceful resolution.

“We are very happy that the matter has been resolved peacefully,” she said as she thanked the public for their assistance, while the neighbour praised the efforts of police.

“They were doing what they should have done, just back off and negotiate,” he said.

“As far as I can tell they did their jobs perfectly.”

In relation to both the Salisbury Hotel alleged armed holdup and the Sunnybank siege, the man was charged with 11 offences in total, including three counts of deprivation of liberty, one count of endangering a child by exposure and one count of serious assault of police.

He is due to face court on Saturday.

A woman (left) and child leaving a house following a siege in Sunnybank. Picture: Tara Croser