Many roads in the city centre of Leeds remain shut this morning after police officers were called to The Headrow at 9.40pm last night following calls from members of the public reporting a man who they believed to be carrying a firearm.

 

He was seen entering the Sainsbury’s store on The Headrow which has now been shut so that a detailed search can be carried out.

 

The 25 year old man from Leeds was then arrested but no firearm was found on his person. Currently he is in custody and is due to undergo a mental health assessment later today.

 

On their Facebook page, the West Yorkshire Police released a statement from Detective Inspector Dave McDougal, of Leeds District CID, who said: “We will always treat any report of a person thought to be in possession of a firearm very seriously. Officers responded quickly to these reports and detained the suspect without incident.

 

“While no firearm was recovered from the arrested man or in initial searches of the area we need to be certain and are conducting further searches today, particularly in the Sainsbury’s store.

 

“We apologise for any inconvenience this ongoing activity may cause but we hope people will understand that we need to treat reports of this nature seriously. We are aiming to remove the scene as quickly as possible once all necessary searches have taken place.”

 

Polly Hatcher

[Image: Sally Galula]