Police arrest Nuneaton gunman after storming bowling alley

A dramatic Sunday afternoon siege in Nuneaton came to an end when armed police stormed a bowling alley where a gunman was holding two male members of staff hostage.

The gunman, who has not yet been named, was taken to hospital in an ambulance under police guard and the two employees escaped unharmed from the Bermuda Park leisure complex.

Police used stun guns to capture the gunman following a tense, four hour standoff involving negotiators who tried to persuade him to give himself up.

The leisure complex is home to a children's soft play area as well as the bowling alley and had been packed with children, teenagers and parents enjoying the first weekend of the school half-term when the incident unfolded.

Footage has emerged online appearing to show a man carrying a weapon as he enters the MFA Bowl in the Warwickshire town.

The gunman reportedly ordered terrified men, women and children out of the bowling alley, screaming "It's game over!" and "Get out! Get the f*ck out!" as he brandished his shotgun.

Warwickshire Police were called at 2.30pm to reports of the gunman followed by several ambulances from the West Midlands service around an hour later as fears mounted for the safety of those inside the complex, some of whom had barricaded themselves in on the instructions of staff.

Thomas Hitchens, a fast food manager from Nuneaton, was bowling with his family - a party of 12 - when he saw people around him starting to run.

"Everyone was running out, and we were literally the last family left in there," said the 28-year-old.

"As I turned around, he was stood there with this sawn-off double-barrelled shotgun.

"He just shouted at us 'get out - now'."

Mr Hitchens believed he parked his car right next to the gunman's vehicle, recognising him later as the person he then saw inside when the drama began to unfold.

He said: "He shouted 'it'll be fine - I won't hurt the kids'.

"When we got into the car park, me and the children just hid behind a load of great big red bins."

He added: "It was my daughter's birthday, so we thought we'd come bowling tonight - and this happens, I can't believe it."

While the incident was ongoing, the bowling alley's manager, Medhi Amshar, said he believed two members of his staff were being held hostage having realised they were missing following the evacuation procedure.

Mr Amshar said he understood the gunman was the partner or former partner of one of his employees, although this is unconfirmed.

Witnesses described the gunman as being "in his 40s" and carrying a gun "slung" over his shoulder.

Lawrence Hallett, who had been at a family children's party at the alley, told Sky News: "One of the staff came up to us and quietly whispered in my ear to leave and I initially thought it was a fire alarm or something like that and I said 'What's the problem? We are halfway through a game' and he said 'There is a gunman'.

"I looked up and there was a guy, probably 20 or 30 feet away, walking towards us with a sawn-off shotgun sort of slung over his shoulder, if you like.

"I thought it was a joke and panicked a little bit and shouted 'everyone get out', and basically ran, hell for leather, out of the building.

"We then hung around outside for a little while ... we didn't know what to do, what was going on and he came out and swore and said 'what the heck are you guys' ... unslung his gun and went back in again and at that point we backed off to our cars.

"He was a 40-odd year-old guy, a bit rough around the edges, unshaven etc, etc."

Carl Lenton was sitting with his family at a table by the window in Frankie and Benny's when the incident began.

He told Sky News: "The manager from Frankie and Benny's came round and said we were in lockdown and we have got to stay in and there had been an incident at the bowling alley, a man over there with a gun.

"There were police cars arriving, there was a helicopter, police dogs, armed police stood all around the bowling alley, around the outside of it.

"It was quite scary at times."

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was called to the incident at 3.40pm and sent an ambulance, two paramedic officers, the Hazardous Area Response Team, and an emergency planning manager to the scene.

Children were evacuated from the nearby Bermuda Adventure Soft Play World, according to Megan Westwood, who was there with a friend.

She told BBC News: "One of the staff told us to get away from the windows because there was a man outside with a knife. As time went on we were later told that he actually had a gun and they barricaded the doors, kept us all away from the windows, and then we were told that he had hostages in the bowling alley next to us."

They were evacuated by the back door into the Holiday Inn Express hotel, which she said was "full of children" at the time.

Police confirmed the incident was not terror-related.

Chief Superintendent Alex Franklin-Smith said: "We would like to thank local people for their patience and co-operation while officers dealt with this incident.

"We are pleased that we were able to bring this incident to a peaceful resolution and that there were no injuries."

The suspect was treated at the scene and taken to hospital, while two other men escaped uninjured, West Midlands Ambulance Service said.

Additional reporting by agencies