BREAKING: A siege which saw a neighbourhood forced into lock down for 18 hours and a police officer hospitalised for serious burns to his leg has ended peacefully in Melbourne’s south-east.
A Molotov cocktail was thrown at one police officer, burning his leg just after police arrived at a house on Elm Street, Parkdale, about 1.30pm on Tuesday to check on the wellbeing of a man inside who was threatening self-harm.
Inspector Tim Day said the man, 53, surrendered to police about 7.15am on Wednesday after an 18-hour stand off.
Inspector Daly said the “extremely dangerous situation” had been resolved as peacefully as possible.
“Someone was throwing Molotov cocktails at police in a built up area – the situation could have been terrible,” he said.
Elm Grove was closed between Como Parade East and the Nepean Highway and the incident had significant impacts on the community, Inspector Daly said.
“People couldn’t use their houses or go near the area for 18 hours,” he said.
During the night, police were helped by crews from the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Ambulance Victoria, State Emergency Service and the critical incident response team.
Asked why the man gave himself up, Inspector Daly said the man was “the one who made the decision” to end the stand-off.
When he left the house, the man was assessed by paramedics, and then taken to the Monash Hospital for further assessment.
Inspector Daly said once the man was checked at the hospital, police would launch a criminal investigation into the matter and charges could be laid against the man, who is known to police.
