Siege at McDonald's ends, man in custody

A gunman has surrendered peacefully, more than eight hours after entering a
McDonald's restaurant on the NSW mid-north coast and firing shots into the air,
terrifying patrons.
The Sydney man walked into the restaurant at a service centre just outside Port
Macquarie during the breakfast rush at 8am (AEST) on Wednesday. He finally gave
himself up to police at 4.20pm (AEST) after hours of negotiations.
Witnesses said the drama began when the man, aged in his 40s, entered the restaurant
carrying a pistol and fired several shots in the air.
Up to 30 staff and diners fled before police surrounded the restaurant, on the
corner of the Oxley and Pacific highways.
No one was hurt in the siege, which forced the closure of the Oxley Highway and the
evacuation of 50 people from the service centre.
One witness said the gunman had seemed more interested in drinking coffee than
harming anyone.
William Duke said the man had fired between six and 12 shots, but apart from
threatening staff and diners, "really didn't do much".
"He's just sitting there, he's having a cup of coffee, and firing his gun in the
air, basically," Mr Duke told the Nine Network.
"He just seems to want to sit there and drink coffee.
"He was on the phone to police most of the time.
"He didn't move, apart from (initially) threatening everyone ... he just sat there."
One diner, who identified himself only as Glen, said he was having breakfast at the
McDonald's outlet when the first shot was fired.
"I was finished eating my burger and was having a coffee reading the paper ... and
the first thing that I was aware of was a shot," he told Fairfax Radio.
"What I actually thought it was, was a loud balloon going off, and I looked over the
alcove with some other people and saw the guy standing there the gun pointing in the
air.
"It was a small handgun, but I really just had a quick look, then like everybody
else ... we just ran out the side."
McDonald's Australia spokeswoman Kristene Mullen said she had no idea what had
sparked the stand-off, but praised staff for getting diners out of the restaurant
safely.
"They are trained in a whole range of events so, obviously, when this happened they
went into automatic pilot and it was handled very well," she said.
"Credit to them for getting everyone out safely."
The gunman was taken to Port Macquarie police station for questioning.
Police said two firearms seized from the man would be forensically examined.