Clutha armed stand-off: Police surround house, negotiating with man inside

Police responded to reports of a man with firearms near Owaka township in rural Otago. Photo / Ben Tomsett

An armed stand-off at a rural Otago house is over after a man wanted for firearms offending was found dead.

Officers were involved in a manhunt across the region yesterday, seeking a man “in relation to alleged firearms offending in the Clutha area”.

Last night, they tracked a man to a house on Hunt Rd, 5km north of the settlement of Owaka.

“Police, including specialist squads supporting local staff, have been at a rural property overnight working to resolve the matter safely,” police said this afternoon.

“The incident began about 9am on Tuesday, when police began working to locate a person of interest in relation to alleged firearms offending in the Clutha area.”

Police earlier said they were “engaged in dialogue” with the man, who was believed to be alone.

At 10.15am today, officers entered the house to find the man dead.

His death will be referred to the coroner and police say they will “assist the coroner with those inquiries”.

“The man’s family are being supported at this very difficult time,” police said.

“While this is not the outcome police would have hoped for, I want to thank the frontline staff and specialist teams for their hard work in responding diligently to this very lengthy incident.”

Armed police block off Hunt Rd. Photo / Ben Tomsett

Police last night said they had the situation “contained” and that there was “no risk to the public”.

There was large police activity in the area, which is largely rolling hills and farmland, this morning.

Police responded to reports of a man with firearms near Owaka township in rural Otago. Photo / Ben Tomsett

Donald “Mack” McIntosh, who lives in Tawanui near Owaka, told the Otago Daily Times about a strange encounter with someone he believed was the man at the centre of the stand-off.

He said that late on Monday night a van came up his driveway and a man wanted petrol.

“I just thought to myself, the sooner [he’s] gone, the better,” McIntosh told the ODT.

“He seemed just an affable, quite likeable sort of guy with a story that just didn’t gel.”

The following morning, McIntosh told the ODT, he drove past the man’s van lying on its side on a winding section of a road near Tawanui and saw a police officer removing “about a dozen” rifles and firearm bolts from it.

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