Police have arrested a man who was reported to be armed with a gun in Toorak Road in South Yarra.
South Yarra 5pm. A Police operation has closed Toorak Rd west bound of Punt Road
pic.twitter.com/jUWdvQaXG6 — Incident Alert-VicSA (@incident_alert)
March 5, 2015
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A Victoria Police spokeswoman said a call was received at 4pm that was someone armed in the exclusive neighbourhood.
Police closed Toorak Road from Punt Road to Park Street. The roads were reopened just before 5.30pm.
Armed man has handed himself into police following a tense standoff in South Yarra this afternoon.
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pic.twitter.com/CEl16FzZmf — Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb)
March 5, 2015
The spokeswoman said that a man was arrested about 5.15pm.
Heavily-armed police were at the scene for over an hour.
Trams and vehicles were redirected as police began negotiations with the gunman.
Police confirmed they seized a weapon at the scene.
Local South Yarra resident Mary said the scene was "controlled chaos", with passersby staying clear of the blocked-off area.
Workers in a local hotel also noted how the area went quiet.
"We knew it was okay when the cars were back," one said.
Channel 7 reported that the man was annoyed by the noise of local birds and armed himself with an air rifle in a bid to scare them off.
Police said the man was surprised he had caused such a scare for local residents and commuters. He is facing weapon charges.