Police at the scene of the siege in Avro Place, Raby / pic: Justin Lloyd Source: The Daily Telegraph
A man is arrested by police at the scene at Raby. Source: The Daily Telegraph
SCREAMS and a "loud bang" set off a six-hour ordeal for an elderly woman trapped inside a house with an armed man yesterday.
Up to 40 heavily armed police surrounded the home on Avro Place in Raby in Sydney's southwest as a 56-year-old man allegedly armed with a shotgun engaged in a tense stand off with the officers outside.
The man's 54-year-old former partner fled from the house to call police but her 74-year-old mother remained inside until the last moments of the siege.
"Police were called to a domestic incident in the house at 7.20am," Detective Inspector Greg Inger said.
"There was an allegation there was a firearm involved."
Police raced to the scene and were joined by specialist negotiators and officers from the Tactical Operations Unit.
Residents of the usually quiet suburb described waking up to find police wearing balaclava-style masks trampling through their backyards with semi-automatic weapons aimed over fences.
An armoured vehicle was parked in front of the house with another balaclava-clad officer perched on top, his automatic weapon trained on the house. Locals crowded behind police tape at both ends of Sopwith Ave.
The woman remained in the house until about 1pm, when police said she was able to "leave the house of her own free will".
She was escorted away from the street, shielded by several police officers, occasionally stumbling and breaking into a run.
"She was holding on to her heart," a witness said.
"She looked really relieved."
The woman was checked by paramedics at the scene before being questioned by police.
The man, known to neighbours as "Tom", left the house about 10 minutes after the woman and was taken into custody by police.
"He was scruffy but he looked like he was pretty calm," the witness said.
While it was unclear what started the argument, neighbours said the couple had recently separated and police had been to their house a "few times" over loud arguments in the last six months.
Police confirmed the man was known to them.
A neighbour, who lives two houses up from the couple, said the man had "seemed normal".
"I heard him yelling this morning and the women screaming," she said.
Another resident, who said her name was Lina, said she heard a bang, the sounds of arguing and then a woman screaming.
"Obviously, I thought the worst," she said.
"You don't expect it. This is a really calm area. You don't expect it to happen in your own backyard, so it is pretty scary, pretty unreal."
The man will face Campbelltown Local Court today on charges of detaining a person for advantage, assault and possessing an unregistered firearm.
Police at the scene of the siege in Avro Place, Raby / pic: Justin Lloyd Source: The Daily Telegraph
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