Shotgun siege at the bowling alley
Families flee as man in UK takes staff hostage and yells: Game over!
ARMED police ended a four-hour siege at a bowling alley in England last night after a gunman took two members of staff hostage.
Terrified families fled the packed venue when the man – in his 40s and carrying a shotgun – stormed in shouting: ‘Game over!’
Staff who managed to escape said he was the former partner of a bowling alley worker and held an unknown ‘grudge’ against her.
Dozens of police, including marksmen and dog handlers, placed the Bermuda Park retail complex in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, in lockdown as a helicopter hovered overhead.
Witnesses said the suspect was tackled after officers let off ‘flash bang’ distraction grenades. He was then dragged into a waiting ambulance.
Within minutes one of the hostages, 17-year-old employee Will Barlow messaged relatives to reassure them he was OK. ‘I love you all, I’m safe now,’ he wrote.
The second hostage was last night named as Josh Steedman, 24, who also worked at the bowling alley. His family said he was safe and they were waiting for him to return home. The drama began at around 2.30pm yesterday, when the gunman walked into the venue shouting: ‘Game over, game over!’
There were scores of people inside, including at least 20 children attending birthday parties on the first weekend of half term.
As staff and customers realised what was happening, panic spread and they ran for the door.
Lawrence Hallett, 48, who was at a bowling party with his children, was among the first to flee.
‘All I heard was screaming’
‘One of the staff came up and quietly whispered in my ear to leave,’ he said.
‘I looked up and there was a gunman about 30ft away. I saw a man walking towards us with a sawn-off shotgun slung over his shoulder. I thought it was a joke and then shouted at everyone to get out.’
Mr Hallett said the gunman then walked out into the car park where he threatened customers, before going back into the building. He added that the man was ‘very aggressive’ shouting and swearing at people to ‘back off’ as he paced along the top of the bowling lanes.
‘He was 40-odd years old, generally rough around the edges, unshaven,’ he told Sky News.
Alex Moore-Holland, who was bowling with a friend, said: ‘All I heard was screaming, panicking, crying – everyone was bombing for the door. He just looked really weird. There were lots of people left surrounding the building and he came out to make sure everyone was scared.’
Armed police placed the retail and business park on lockdown as families in a neighbouring Frankie And Benny’s restaurant were ordered to remain inside.
In the adjacent Odeon cinema, films were stopped and viewers were ushered into a locked room. Shortly before 7pm, a series of bangs and flashes signalled the police moving in to end the stand-off. The suspect was then whisked away in an ambulance.
Visibly relieved armed police officers could then be seen taking off helmets and body armour as they returned to their vehicles. Speaking after the siege, Dominic Barlow, 29, confirmed that Will, his cousin, was one of those held hostage.
He said: ‘He’s very shook up and is with a paramedic now to have a general check-up.’
Mehdi Afshar, the chief executive of MFA Bowl, confirmed two of his staff were held hostage. He said he had been told by the site manager that the gunman was ‘an ex-husband or boyfriend of a member of staff’. Police confirmed a man was arrested and was in custody last night. Chief Superintendent Alex Franklin-Smith said: ‘We are pleased we were able to bring this incident to a peaceful resolution and that there were no injuries.
‘The incident is not linked to any terrorist activity.’