A cordon in Napier was lifted on Thursday morning after a man threatening to detonate a bomb gave himself up to police. A number of households were evacuated during the six-hour standoff.
Police called to a property at Sanders Avenue at 10.45pm on Wednesday say they were confronted by a man wielding a large kitchen knife.
The officers retreated and the man barricaded himself in a house and threatened to detonate a home-made bomb.
He was arrested after coming out of the house at 4.30am. A bomb squad checked the house and the cordon was lifted.
Police at the house in Sanders Avenue on Thursday morning. Photo: RNZ
The man, who is 30, has been admitted to hospital for further treatment after being assessed by a mental heath team and the police say decisions about his alleged offending will be made later.
Officers are talking with members of his family and are also speaking to neighbours.
Police say Victim Support, the Salvation Army and the Fire Service provided great support to them and residents during the incident.
Freddy Van Der Schyff, who lives over the road, says police told him the man over the road had a 9kg gas cylinder made into a bomb and they had to evacuate immediately.
He spent much of the night at the Napier Fire Station with many of his neighbours, the majority of whom are elderly.
