A man who armed himself with a gun and barricaded himself inside a house with a woman and five children has been arrested following a dramatic stand off with police.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The man, 26, was seen being led away from the house in Melbourne's north in handcuffs with police confirming the incident was over on Friday evening.
Victoria Police Inspector Peter Tatter-Rendelmann said the children and woman inside the house during a siege in Epping were not held against their will.
"Today's events have been the culmination of an investigation in relation to some thefts and fire arms offences conducted by Darebin Crime Investigation Unit," he said.
It is believed the man attempted to exit the house in Wedge Street at about 2pm on Friday but ran back inside because police officers had surrounded the property.
"We had a planned an arrest scenario," Inspector Tatter-Rendelmann said.
"He was called to come out of the premises, at which time he came out, and was in possession of what we believe was a small firearm."
Police cordoned off the area as they began negotiating with the man.
"Through that we identified that there were a further six people within the premises at that time, all those parties were known to the offender and they were inside that premises willingly," he said.
He said there were five children were between toddler age and 16 years-old, along with one woman aged in her 20s inside the house.
They were removed from the home "in three lots," he said.
Inspector Tatter-Rendelmann said police would likely charge the man with several offences, including theft and firearm offences.
He said police were pleased the siege ended peacefully and no one was injured.
"Everyone's safe, they're all being cared for by family members," he said.
Heavily armed police remained outside the house for almost five hours attempting to negotiate with the man.
A neighbour, who requested anonymity, said residents were in "shock."
"It was horrible because there is a school just across the road from the house and it happened just as school was breaking," she said.
She said families and young children of St Peter's Primary School witnessed police surrounding the house.
Ms Savino said there was no risk to the general public.
In another dramatic turn of events, police on the scene have arrested two people when a violent brawl broke out between three men in a nearby street.
It is not believed this incident is related to the siege.
Specialist police including the dog squad and Special Operations Group were at the scene until about 7pm.
