Man Tasered and arrested after two-hour hostage siege in Wales' tallest building
The incident saw players from the Spanish football team Villareal, in Swansea for a friendly match, evacuated from of the nearby Marriott Hotel
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A Taser had to be used to arrest an armed man who had taken a hostage during a two-hour siege in Wales’s tallest building.
Police said that no one had been “seriously injured” but one man was taken into police custody, following the incident that took place on in Swansea’s Meridian Tower.
The unnamed suspect allegedly entered the building’s Grape & Olive restaurant on Friday afternoon, before taking the man hostage.
The alarm was raised when a woman had spotted the man entering the building with what she believed to be a gun.
Police were then called, arriving at the building at 4pm.
According to witnesses, around 15 police cars and one helicopter were brought in to help with the hostage situation.
After the building was evacuated, negotiators worked for over two hours to persuade the armed man to release the hostage.
A Taser was then used to subdue and detain the suspect who is currently in police custody.
A South Wales Police spokesman confirmed a hostage situation on the 28th floor of the building had taken place.
He said: “Officers were called to the building at 4pm after a man was taken hostage inside a public area of the building by another man who was in possession of a firearm.
“After approximately two hours a tactical response team discharged taser to subdue the man and detain him. A handgun has been recovered from the scene.
One man, who preferred not to be named, was eating at the restaurant when the man was alleged to have taken his hostage.
He said: “We were in the restaurant and we were told to stay put by a waiter. I asked what was going on and they said there were reports of a man with a gun.
"A short while later we were ushered out of the restaurant, down the fire escape a couple of flights, and then into a lift to the bottom.
“When we came out there were armed police there and they told us to move away.”
The incident led to the marina area around the 351 ft building being cordoned off and many of the surrounding roads being closed, causing major disruption on the city’s roads.
It also led to players from the Spanish football team Villareal being evacuated from the neighbouring Marriott Hotel where they had been staying ahead of a friendly match against Swansea set to take place on Saturday.
Meridian Tower has dominated the Swansea skyline ever since it was completed in 2009.
It is also home to some of Swansea’s richest residents, with the building’s penthouse costing in excess of £1 million.