Perth pharmacy standoff ends after man allegedly uses toy gun and demands pain medication

A man was locked in a four-hour standoff with police after he allegedly went into a pharmacy with a toy gun and told workers ‘today is the day’.

The 29-year-old man allegedly claimed he had a real gun in his backpack when he walked into Pharmacy 777 at Applecross, Perth, at 4.30pm on Thursday.

He allegedly threatened staff and demanded they hand over high-dose painkillers. Witnesses claimed he also said he had a bomb.

Customers were evacuated from the store and police arrived after receiving calls about an armed robbery and a man threatening staff.

The 29-year-old man allegedly claimed he had a gun when he walked into Pharmacy 777 at Applecross, in Perth, at 4.30pm on Thursday

Officers surrounded the pharmacy, evacuated nearby businesses and closed down surrounding roads as they attempted to negotiate with the man

Officers surrounded the pharmacy, evacuated nearby businesses, and closed down surrounding roads as they attempted to negotiate with the man.

They then fired beanbag ammunition and non-lethal grenades before arresting the man at 8.30pm.

The man, who was known to police, was taken to Royal Perth Hospital as a precaution.  

One terrified customer said they were told by staff to leave the store because of an ‘incident’.

‘I was in the pharmacy looking around and one of the pharmacists came up to me and said ‘excuse me ma’am, you need to leave’,’ she told West Australian.

‘She told me ‘we’ve got an incident’ and all the customers left the building.’ 

Staff described the incident as surreal and recalled the moment armed police surrounded the pharmacy.

‘Police arrived pretty soon, it started out with just two police officers, then all of a sudden there were six or seven, then detectives arrived and then what looked like the Tactical Response Group with rifles arrived.’

Armed police unloaded beanbag ammunition and non-lethal grenades before arresting the man at 8.30pm