Armed naked man talked down from billboard

Police sealed off part of downtown Perth, Australia and called in heavily armed reinforcements as they talked a naked man with a handgun down from the top of a large billboard. The shaven-headed man, wearing what appeared to be a gun holster, took position on the billboard next to the Perth train station on Wellington Street some time before 2pm, walking up and down and ranting. Police cordoned off the area, closing several blocks of Wellington Street, while city trains on the adjacent lines were halted.

Tactical Response Group officers were rushed to the scene, along with a heavily armoured police rescue vehicle. A police helicopter, a fire truck and ambulances were also on standby as crowds of people gathered to watch from the edge of the cordon. Duty police commander Inspector Neil Blair told reporters at the scene that police had no idea who the man was.



"He's just ranting and raving at this stage, nothing that's really legible or that's making a great deal of sense," Inspector Blair said. "It's not the actions of a rational person to be up there naked in the middle of Perth with what appears to be a handgun."

Inspector Blair said it was not known if the gun was real or a fake but police were treating it as a real one. Some young men watching from the top of a nearby car park building shouted for the man to jump. In response, Inspector Blair picked up a loud hailer and calling them "you clowns", warned them they would be arrested if they continued such behaviour.



Police negotiators further down Wellington Street could be heard using loud hailers to urge the naked man to come down, saying they were worried for his safety. Around 4pm the man threw his holster belt in the direction of Barrack Street. Later in the evening, the man entered into dialogue with police negotiators, threw the handgun down and agreed to come down himself, Inspector Blair said.

He said the gun was in the hands of police but he did not know if it was real. He also said a cherry picker with TRG officers in it was used to bring the man down before he was taken, under guard in an ambulance, to Royal Perth Hospital for a check-up. "It's a successful resolution and it's a job well done," Inspector Blair said.