A man was taken to hospital for assessment and possible dehydration following a 23-hour stand-off with police at the Junee Locomotive Hotel in Hill Street.
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The drama began around 10am on Tuesday when the man locked himself in a room of the Locomotive Hotel, with initial reports claiming he was armed with knives.
Police, including negotiators, as well as ambulance, SES and the State Protection Support Unit – made up of officers from several local commands – established a perimeter and began to speak with the man, who ended up climbing out a window and onto the hotel roof.
Police duty officer Robert Vergano said that in order to minimise any chance of the man self-harming or lashing out, at no time did police climb out onto the roof.
Instead, negotiators spoke through the windows, while ambulance officers remained on standby and police and the SES maintained the perimeter.
The man was shot once by police with a “bean bag round” used for non-lethal apprehension, at some time during the night.
The 51-year-old Junee man is known to police, who said he had a troubled past with family tragedy.
As the stand-off dragged on into the night, the decision was made to divert students from Junee Public School to Junee High School for Wednesday classes as a precaution, while road diversions around Hill Street were put in place.
Family members of the holed-up man arrived in a distressed state and asked those at the scene to “leave him alone”.
By Wednesday morning, the man appeared exhausted and disorientated, as he drank water from the hotel’s air conditioning reservoir while using a sign to shield himself from the morning sun, and calling out that he hadn’t done anything wrong.
After 8.30am the man had stripped off his black t-shirt and began pacing back and forth, before dropping to his knees and putting down his weapon.
By 8.40am the man handed his t-shirt to one of the officers, before he climbed through the window to waiting police, marking the end of the 23-hour siege.
“We had a peaceful resolution to the siege going on here in Junee,” Inspector Vergano said.
“The fellow who had contained us for about 23 hours has surrendered to police, so it was a peaceful surrender, no injuries involved.”
Nearby residents who had heard the drama throughout the night were more concerned for the man’s welfare and told The Daily Advertiser on the condition that they would not be identified, “we’re just glad it ended peacefully”.
The man was taken to hospital and assessed for possible dehydration, before speaking to police. Roads were reopened after getting the all clear.
