Leeds grandfather slams ‘armed siege kidnappers’ after man’s tragic death

An angry Leeds grandfather has slammed those who drove to a police roadblock only to watch the horrific scene which led to a man’s tragic death.

West Yorkshire Police yesterday (Sunday June 9) surrounded a house in the Half Mile Green cul-de-sac, Stanningley, where a man appeared to be holding a handgun to the window. The force was initially called to the home to reports of a domestic disturbance at 12.36pm.

Armed response units, along with negotiators, dog handlers and drone teams were then dispatched to the scene with an ambulance on hand. They stayed there for ten hours.

Follow our blog live as Leeds ‘stand-off’ ends with one man dead after armed police storm home

The police forced entry into the property at 10:50 p.m. Neighbors said they heard “shots and smoke grenades”. The man was found “critically injured” and rushed to hospital, where he sadly died in the early hours of Monday.

Retired builder and grandfather-of-three Steve Wood was upset during the day that so many people had flocked to the scene to catch a glimpse of the crime scene. He said there were groups of people standing by the road on Half Mile Lane looking over the lane to get a better view.

These included a mix of people who had driven specifically to the incident and parked nearby and groups of teenagers keen to see what was going on. He compared their actions to the act of holding your neck after a devastating highway accident.

Steve said: “I couldn’t understand why people were driving up and down, parking and going to have a look. There is nothing to see. I had a lot of young teenagers. They didn’t know the guy and he had absolutely nothing to do with them.

“Why are you coming? It’s like on a freeway, you see an accident, why do you slow down just to look at it when it has nothing to do with you?”

Steve went on to say that he and his wife, who have lived in the area for about 30 years, do not get involved in such incidents out of respect for the people involved. He added that he was sad for the man who died and for his family members.

He added: “If he had a partner or a family, people are left on their own and have to deal with that every day.

The force has since referred the case to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which is a mandatory requirement in circumstances where there is a tragic loss of life. The IOPC declared an independent investigation.

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