Naked, armed Australian puts police on alert

PERTH - A naked Australian man armed with a pistol climbed up a 10-metre-high billboard in Perth and shouted at onlookers below for nearly four hours, bringing the entire city police unit on alert.

The shaven-headed man, who appeared to be in his 30s or 40s, climbed on to the advertising billboard at about 2 p.m. Saturday and yelled at onlookers, while pacing up and down the billboard, Perth Now reported.

Heavily armed police officers had to be called and snipers took position in a nearby car park. Parts of nearby streets were closed to traffic and pedestrians.

Police called out to the man, saying they were there to help him and asked him to come down. At around 5.20 p.m., police got their first breakthrough when the man threw away the handgun he had been openly waving around.

Police were at first unaware if he was brandishing a genuine pistol or a replica, but later confirmed it was a genuine weapon.

Minutes later, the man held up his hands, gesturing his surrender.

Three officers used a crane and managed to bring the man down to the ground, where he was taken to a waiting ambulance.