Wellington traffic disruption after gunman scare

A man is in custody after sparking an armed offenders callout when seen carrying a firearm on central Wellington streets this afternoon.

The drama caused massive rush hour disruption to traffic after streets were cordoned off when the gunman was seen entering flats in suburban Brooklyn.

It was later reported the weapon was a replica firearm.


Inspector Steve Darroch said police received the callout just before 4pm.

Brooklyn Hill Road was closed for about one hour and traffic was diverted.

A police spokeswoman said the incident seemed to be unrelated to an incident on Lambton Quay this afternoon in which a robber got away with a unknown amount of cash from the National Bank.

Inspector Steve Darroch said the man presented a note to a teller just before 4pm saying he had a weapon, but no weapon was seen.

The man was still at large tonight and no descrption of him has yet been issued.

No one was injured in the incident, Mr Darroch said.

- NZPA