Man with ‘bomb’ arrested after siege
The man’s 12-year-old daughter was released and reunited with her family, New South Wales police said. She was distressed, but otherwise unharmed.
Police assistant commissioner Denis Clifford said bomb technicians were examining the backpack to see if any explosive devices were in it.
A police tactical team forced its way into the office after negotiations with the man began to crumble, Clifford said.
Police have not released the man’s name or described the series of demands he issued. He is expected to appear in court today.
The drama began yesterday morning, when the man walked into the reception area of the lawyers’ offices.
Employee Betty Hor said he approached her and asked to see someone whom she had never heard of. The man went upstairs briefly then returned to reception and repeated his request. She told him again that she had never heard of the man he was seeking.
Hor said the man then threw a book at her desk and told her to call the unknown man and the state attorney general’s department and “tell them I’ve got a bomb in my backpack”.
Hor called police as the man walked to a lawyer’s office with the girl.
Police would not say whether the girl was the man’s daughter, as local media have maintained, but a Sky TV reporter said the girl was later heard screaming “that’s my dad” as she was led away from the scene.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene, evacuated the office building and cordoned off the street below.
Dozens of police officers swarmed around the perimeter of the building, and ambulances, fire trucks and the police riot team waited nearby.
Clifford declined to comment on reports that the man was arrested Monday at a government building after he was involved in an incident at the state parliament in Sydney.
