Police surround armed man in Aldwick flats

Four officers were called in to deal with the serious incident in Princess Avenue.

They were among eight officers who spent up to 75 minutes at the scene. Two police dogs were also called in.

The alarm was raised at 11.45pm on Wednesday, March 4.

Paramedics answered a 999 call to a flat in the road only to find the man who had made the call sitting on the communal stairs holding a rifle.

The man (33) did not threaten the paramedics, but they were concerned for his safety and their own and called the police.

The first officers who arrived decided to call for back-up from their armed colleagues.

Inspector John Merrick, of Bognor Regis police station, said: "The man was spoken to by the officers and allowed them in voluntarily.

"He gave up the rifle. It turned out to be an air rifle but no one knew that at the time.

"When the officers had got hold of the rifle, they made a search of the premises to make sure sure there were no more fire arms there, which there were not.

"No one was injured and the man had not committed any offences. So, it was just his welfare we were concerned about. He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act."

Insp Merrick explained: "When we receive information about someone with a weapon, we have to assess it immediately. We don't know what the person's intentions are.

"We have to get intelligence from the first officers on the scene and make decisions from there.

"Our first thoughts are to contain the danger but, of course, we don't know if there are other people in a building or if they are at risk."

A nearby resident who witnessed the dramatic scenes said: "There was a lot of police activity around there.

"I saw them order the man on to the floor and then they handcuffed him.

"I saw the siege in Aldwick Road near Tesco last year and I would say this

was a bigger police operation than that. But we were not allowed out of our home then."

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