THE ALLEGED perpetrator of Monday’s siege drank alcohol and packed a tomahawk before travelling to Mount Austin to bash his ex-partner, police claim.
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Northcott Parade was sent into lockdown when a 52-year-old man barricaded himself inside a flat before lighting a mattress on fire and hurling it from the balcony.
Detectives revealed the alleged offender was in breach of an apprehended violence order (AVO) leading up to the tense stand-off that left four people injured.
The chaos came to a halt when the man jumped from the balcony and was apprehended by officers waiting below.
Inspector Peter Robertson said the Wagga man is currently under police guard in hospital while receiving treatment for burns to his arms and feet.
“He barricaded himself inside for over an hour and suffered significant burns during the negotiations,” he said.
“We believe that he tried to assault one of the females with the tomahawk, but he was disarmed by the two women.”
During the siege, the alleged perpetrator is believed to have punched his ex-partner in the face and shoved her to the ground.
Upon release, he will be charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, using weapon to avoid apprehension, deliberate damage to property by fire and breach AVO.
Early reports suggested shots had been fired, however Inspector Robertson said it was a false alarm.
“We did have information early on that the fellow had a firearm so we had specialist police on site but that information was unfounded,” he said.
It is also believed the man also screamed profanities at emergency service workers.
Residents in nearby streets gathered to watch plumes of smoke billowing from the house.
One woman, who wished to remain unnamed, said the incident looked like “something out of Hollywood”.
“It looks like what you see on TV when there’s a siege or a drug bust where known armed people are involved,” she said.
