Shooter’s bizarre act before taking father and toddler son hostage during tense standoff on Weir Views roof

A man armed with a high-powered rifle bounced on a trampoline while fleeing before taking a father and his toddler son hostage in a tense standoff with police.

The 26-year-old man, from Snake Valley in western Victoria near Ballarat, remains in hospital after Victoria Police’s Special Operations Group used an attack dog to take him down.

The camouflage-clad elite officers were seen on the roofs of neighboring houses in Weir Views, west of Melbourne, where the gunman had taken the father and his one-year-old hostage.

Chief Inspector Michael Cruse said the man allegedly fired several shots at police after carjacking a 70-year-old woman in Snake Valley on Tuesday around 2:30 p.m.

The man used that car to drive into the Melton area, where police deployed a police helicopter to follow him more than 100km to the Weir Views home, where a dramatic siege took place.

Neighbors on Leon Drive told media that the armed man was seen playing on a trampoline in a nearby backyard before breaking into the house.

Supt Cruse confirmed the man was behaving in a bizarre manner shortly before taking the hostages, but would not go into specific details.

“There was a period where he was behaving erratically in the backyard of the property, yes,” he admitted.

Clothed elite police officers stood over the alleged gunman after a dog took him down

Police further allege that the man shot at officers who first approached him in the area.

“We claim a shot was fired at the police. The police were able to withdraw and again fortunately they were not injured,” Cruse said.

Once bunkered inside, the man allegedly refused to let his hostages leave for two and a half hours.

The area was closed off and residents had to remain indoors while SOG officers surrounded the building.

Mr Cruse said police negotiators worked for hours to encourage the man to leave peacefully, but it was advice he refused to accept.

Shortly after 6 p.m., police thought they had made a breakthrough, with the gunman suggesting he would let his hostages leave unharmed.

But when the time came, the man said the police opened fire in a direction yet to be determined.

‘At that time the police conducted a tactical burglary of the home. We will allege at that point that another shot was fired at the police team and they were able to deploy a police dog and the male perpetrator was shot,” Mr Cruse said.

In a stroke of luck for the perpetrator, Mr Cruse revealed that one of the elite officers fired back but did not hit the man.

SOG snipers prepare to take out the gunman on a nearby roof

An SOG officer helps the man and his toddler escape the house amid wild scenes

Instead, the man suffered little more than a dog bite and remains in the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

He is expected to be released Wednesday afternoon, where he will face multiple charges, including conduct endangering life.

The father and his child were physically unharmed in the incident, but it is feared they may have been traumatized by the experience, as was the elderly carjacking victim.

Supt Cruse paid tribute to the bravery of SOG members in ending the siege without loss of life.

“All the police officers present yesterday have significant expertise in different areas,” he said.

“The Special Operations Group trains for these incidents and I was (reassured) by their presence there.”

Supt Cruse said it was “extremely fortunate” no police officers were killed in the incident.

“The crime is very serious and completely unacceptable that police members were exposed to this type of danger,” he said.

“Having said that, we had a very strong plan and tried to make it as planned and as safe as possible. But it’s fortunate.’

Leon Drive in Wer Views was closed as police surrounded the area

Police are now investigating how many shots were fired by the man and how many were aimed at him.

“We’re not sure of the exact number of shots fired… at this point we’re just working on it,” Supt Cruse added.

“We believe there are a number of unrecorded discharges and we are just trying to establish where they were sent and what the reason was.”

None of the shots hit police officers, but Supt Cruse said all police officers involved in the drama would receive counseling in the coming days.