Arrest on suspicion of attempted murder after Peterlee stand-off

A 26 year old man was arrested last night on suspicion of attempted murder following a five hour stand-off with police at a house in Peterlee.

Initial calls to police at around 3.50pm reported a man driving a red Seat recklessly in the Little Eden area. It is believed the car was also driving towards pedestrians in the Edenhill Road area with several people reporting having to move out of the way of the vehicle.

Around ten minutes later, the man, who is local to the area, entered an empty house on Barsloan Avenue, once inside the house there were suggestions he was armed a knife.

Two armed response units and specially trained negotiators were deployed to the scene along with Fire and Rescue, Ambulance Service and the Police Helicopter.

Following negotiations the suspect, who at one point was on the roof of the house, was detained by officers at around 9.30pm and remains in custody. Damage was subsequently discovered to the inside of the property as well as significant damage to the roof.

The house will remain cordoned off for most of today while specialist teams carry out searches and forensic investigations.

Detective Inspector Andy Smith, from Peterlee CID, said:

“We are not looking for anyone else in relation to this incident and the man in question remains in custody and is assisting us with our enquiries.”

“This was a very distressing incident for the residents of the area and I would like to reassure them that the people involved in this were known to each other.

Any witnesses are asked to call 101 quoting incident 273 of 11th April.