Armed police swarm Auckland building after ‘photographic equipment’ mistaken for gun

Armed police swarmed an Auckland apartment building after a witness mistook photographic equipment for a gun.

Witnesses saw about a dozen officers, some armed, enter the Goodview Apartment Hotel in Hobson St shortly before 10am Saturday.

A man is arrested after a "gun", which was in fact photographic equipment, was reported to police by a witness at a Hobson St apartment building this morning. Photo / Dean Purcell

Police arrested three people at the scene, but only one is staying in custody.

“No firearm was located and police believe that in this instance a long piece of photographic equipment was mistaken for a firearm by an observer,” a spokesman said.

Police say the response to the incident led to one man being arrested over an outstanding warrant, while two others were released without charge. Photo / Dean Purcell

The exact nature of the long item the witness saw remained unclear, a spokesman said.

A Herald photographer at the scene saw a man in a basketball jersey being taken away by police. The spokesman said one man was arrested over an outstanding warrant while two others were released without charge.

Armed police outside Goodview Apartment Hotel on Hobson St in central Auckland today. Photo / RNZ / Lucy Xia