A 43-year-old man was arrested after an hours-long armed stand-off at his home on Mechelsesteenweg in Herent, Flemish Brabant, ended with an intervention by the federal police’s special units, with no injuries reported.
The Leuven public prosecutor’s office confirmed the incident took place during the night from Friday to Saturday.
Police in the HerKo zone received a report at about 00:30 from local residents saying a man carrying a firearm was standing in the street. Before officers arrived, he had gone back inside his home.
When police reached the scene, the man behaved aggressively from inside the house. He refused to cooperate and would not come out.
Local police then called in the federal police, the public prosecutor’s office and special units.
Emergency services first tried to persuade the man to surrender voluntarily, prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Sarah Callewaert said. When those efforts failed, the special units entered the property.
The man was subdued and arrested, and the operation ended at around 05:30.
The 43-year-old, who is from Herent, is due to be questioned on Saturday. The cause of the incident is not yet known.
