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ABC News
ABC News
National

Gunmen surrender to police, taken into custody after siege at Brisbane unit

Two men are in custody after a police siege which closed Brisbane's Coronation Drive and put parts of the suburb of Auchenflower into lockdown.

The stand-off began at around 11:00am when Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) officers were shot at as they entered a unit in the Chasely Apartment Hotel to investigate a number of property offences.

The two armed men, aged 33 and 29, then barricaded themselves inside the unit, and stayed there for nearly six hours.

Inspector Tony Ridge of Queensland Police said police did not have to evacuate the entire building and residents were safe, with SERT officers deployed inside the building and more enforcing a cordon outside.

He said only one shot was fired and no-one was injured.

Coronation Drive was closed in both directions during the siege and ferry services on the nearby Brisbane River were also disrupted.

Police said the two men had rented the apartment short-term, overnight.

Several firearms were seized from the unit.

Residents were 'very scared' as police surrounded unit block

Matthew Parry arrived at the Chasely Apartment Hotel in the morning to do some roofing work on the building but was stopped by police who warned there were shooters inside.

He didn't hear any gunshots but said people were trapped in their units and looked "very scared".

"Must have happened just moments before we pulled in, they had the place surrounded with men approximately 50 metres in each direction," he said.

"The people stuck in the fourth floor units were asking if we could help them down … then a lady came out of the fire escape stairs and warned us of the shooter," he said.

There were significant traffic delays on Coronation Drive, with ferries and buses also suspended.

Brisbane City Council announced tolls would be lifted on Legacy Way until 7:00pm to help ease congestion in the area.

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