People warned to stay indoors after armed police swoop on man ‘with weapons’

Road closures are still in place in the centre of Sheffield while specialist officers continue to negotiate with an armed man. Residents of The Gateway block of flats have been told to take refuge at the Ponds Forge Sports centre while students in a nearby halls of residence were ordered to stay inside. The situation started to unfold shortly after 7pm yesterday and the area is still cordoned off this afternoon.

Video from the scene today shows officers stood on a flat balcony below the top floor. A local resident who lives in The Gateway block of flats told Metro: ‘At the time it was frightening. I had a police officer come around banging on my door around 8pm yesterday, telling us we need to “evacuate now”. ‘I started to gather some stuff and she really highlighted the fact we have to leave “now”. I couldn’t even get the cats out.

‘All the police who have been supporting us so far have been lovely and friendly towards us too. ‘So far the staff at Ponds Forge have been absolutely fantastic to us, providing us with water and food. We had beds delivered around 4am this morning. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. ‘We’ve been moved into a hotel now which is obviously nicer.’.

In an updated statement this afternoon, police said: ‘We understand the disruption and impact this incident is having on our communities, those affected by the evacuation, roads closures and those concerned for loved ones in the area. ‘Our aim is to bring the incident to a close safely and get everyone and their families back to their homes as soon as possible.’. Police said in a statement this morning: ‘Just after 7pm last night (Monday 10 February) we responded to concerns for a man inside a property, alleged to have weapons and posed a risk to himself.

‘Those within the building where the property has been evacuated and those within the neighbouring buildings have been asked to stay indoors while officers conduct their work.’. Today they added that road closures remain in place on Sheffield Parkway and emergency crews remain on the scene in Broad Street. Commuters are advised to avoid the area which is still closed to drivers. People on social media have been complaining about heavy traffic especially around rush hour this morning.

Police also confirmed that the tram network is also affected. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: Body of ‘wonderful’ woman, 75, found in house months after dying. Arrow MORE: Two children ‘freeze to death’ in car after it ran out of petrol. Arrow MORE: Man loses £3,250 after falling victim to deep fake Elon Musk scam on Facebook.