A man believed to be armed with a rifle has been holed up in a townhouse in Hazelbrook since last night.
At least 20 police and emergency vehicles, including heavily armed members of the tactical operations unit, have cordoned off Glendarrah St, behind the shopping centre.
One neighbour, Brigid Hope, who was staying in one of the townhouses with her mother, said police hammered on the door at 7am this morning, telling them there was a siege underway.
Ms Hope said for the next three hours, they stayed inside the home, wondering what was happening.
“We were thinking what on earth could be going on,” she said.
She and her family were later evacuated.
“”At about 10.15, they [police] called me and said we are actually going to evacuate everyone from the complex for our safety.”
She and her nearly one-year-old daughter, her mother, two sisters and niece were taken to other relatives at Katoomba.
One of the officers in the car told her the armed man had been holding his mother hostage but the mother had since been released, Ms Hope said.
A police spokesperson said police were called to a residence in Glendarrah Street at 7.45pm on Sunday to speak to a man. They wouldn’t release any other details, only saying the operation was ongoing.