A lengthy siege involving a man who claimed to have a bomb in a Sydney legal office has come to an end this evening.
The man’s daughter ran from the building just after 8pm local time. She was put onto a stretcher and transported to hospital in an ambulance, but is not thought to have been injured during the 12 hour standoff.
Police broke into the barristers’ chambers after negotiations with the man broke down. He is now in custody.
A 52-year-old man is assisting police with their enquiries.
Earlier today, the man walked into the Parramatta law firm Arthur Phillip Chambers asking to speak to someone. When he was told that person didn’t work there, he snapped.
When police arrived, the man appeared several times at a window, stripped to the waist and beating his chest. He gave the thumbs down to a barrister’s wig and repeatedly spat on it.
He later smashed a window with a bottle, hurling it into the street.
The man told a worker to call the Attorney General and tell him he had a bomb in his backpack.
“[He] has made a number of demands [we’re] still trying to establish a motive,” Assistant Commissioner Denise Clifford, from the NSW police said earlier today.
A law clerk, who did not want to be identified, said the man came into the lawyers’ office with a girl who looked to be aged 10 or 11, who called him dad.
The street was blocked off and offices evacuated.
The situation escalated mid afternoon when loud bangs were heard, along with yelling and then a window was smashed.
The man then stuck a phone out the window. Police negotiators had made contact with him by phone earlier, perhaps this was a message he was ready to talk.
3 News