LATEST: A man who sparked a major armed offenders squad callout after being seen running around Hillcrest with an air rifle has been remanded on bail.

The 29-year-old has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and is due to appear in the North Shore District Court this month. 

About 20 police officers and 15 members of the armed offenders squad were on site to arrest the man after successfully appealing to him to come out of his McFetridge Place home on Tuesday afternoon. 

A police dog squad and St John paramedic in bullet-proof gear were also on site.

A neighbour had earlier alerted police about a man running around the street with a weapon, North Shore police detective Shane Page says.

He says the man was allegedly dressed in protective clothing and carried a BB gun that looked like the Bushmaster assault rifles that police use.

Police were told the man was wearing shoulder pads and carrydhing a backpack while running in a military-style stance with one hand near the trigger and the other on the muzzle, Mr Page says.

 

He says the neighbour told police that the man had run around in a similar manner a few days before but the incident had not been reported to police at the time.

 

He says a language barrier had prevented most people in the street from reporting the incident sooner, but they came out to speak with police once they saw them on the street.

 

He says the man was inside with his elderly mother just before he was arrested and no one was injured.

 

The street, as well as nearby Velma Rd and part of Coronation Rd was on lock-down from 2.15pm until 4.10pm.

 

Pupils were kept inside at Marlborough Primary and Sunnybrae Normal schools until 3.20pm as a precaution.

 

Parents who had arrived to pick up their children were advised of the lock-down and invidhted into the classrooms to wait with their children, Marlborough Primary School secretary Jodine Watts says.

 

She says the atmosphere was calm and most pupils were unaware of the situation.

- © Fairfax NZ News