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MAXINE JACOBS/STUFF
Police are seen talking to the man on a roof in Hamilton’s city centre.
What sounded like gun shots were fired at a man on a building smashing windows in central Hamilton.
A man who smashed windows along Victoria St’s rooftop in the CBD is asking to speak to the mayor.
Bystanders lined the police cordon on London St on Thursday night.
Police responded at 9pm, cordoning off Victoria St, from Bryce St to London St. They also responded with dog units.
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Resident Ash Cooper said the man came from a halfway house beside her home in Canter Point Apartments a few windows from the scene.
“For probably the last week he’s been yelling, running across balconies. I called the police three times last week three times because he threatened to stab me.
“He’s been throwing things down on the cars, smashing all the cars. Smashing all the windows up on that building, he’s not really responding to police.”
One witness called out to police, “Get a Māori negotiator in … he wont talk to those Pākehā’s,”
Freda Handley, 61, was waiting for her bus after finishing up at Fonterra when she spotted the man swearing at police. She had been watching for about 20 minutes.
“He told them to leave him alone, that he just wanted to be on his own, but then they started talking back to him and he just started smashing stuff.
“It looks like there’s wiring along the roof, well he’s thrown that all off the roof, he’s smashed a lot of windows over there, a lot of lights, as you can see he’s still smashing.
At that moment, the man broke at least six windows lining the rooftop of one of the buildings with what appeared to be a piece of the roof.
“It’s bad what he’s doing … and he also asked for the mayor, Andrew King, he told the police to get him.”
The mayor is on the way to the scene.
A police officer said the man was known to police.
The man was reported to be damaging property before climbing onto the roof, a police spokesperson said.
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