A central Wellington street has reopened after being closed by armed police who couldn’t locate a person with a warrant for their arrest.
Officers arrived at an apartment block on Hopper St in the suburb of Mount Cook to execute an arrest warrant at around 10.30am.
Wellington City area commander Inspector Dean Silvester said attending officers were led to believe a firearm might be present.
“They withdrew from the immediate area and cordoned and contained the address.”
A drone was used to clear the apartment at around 12.50pm, prior to the Armed Offenders Squad going in, he said.
“The subject of the warrant was not at the address and enquiries to locate that person are ongoing. A search of the property has been carried out and no firearm was located.”
Silvester said the incident was unrelated to events at the Pukehinau Flats in the suburb of Brooklyn, where the victim of a “targeted attack” jumped from a balcony on Sunday afternoon to escape a balaclava-wearing offender who was armed with a shotgun.
“Police would like to thank residents and members of the public for their understanding while this incident was resolved. We appreciate the disruption caused but will always take the threat of firearms seriously.”
