Updated 10.45am

A man armed with a shotgun locked himself inside a Pieta’ apartment and surrounded himself with fighting dogs on Sunday night, forcing a six-hour standoff that ended with his arrest. 

Police had rushed to Triq Qrejten at around 7.30pm on Sunday evening following reports that an armed man was threatening locals and damaging parked cars. By the time officers had arrived, the suspect had locked himself inside the ground floor maisonette he lives in.

When police knocked on his door, the man showed officers a large knife, pointed a loaded shotgun at them and threatened to shoot, the police said on Monday. 

The man, a 38-year-old Serbian national, had three trained fighting dogs inside the apartment. 

'Remove the gun'

Officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit and Special Intervention Unit surrounded the building and sought to negotiate with the man, while residents living in apartments above the man's maisonette were evacuated by police.  Police commissioner Angelo Gafa’ was also seen at the scene in the early hours of the morning. 

Video from the scene showed officers on the street ordering the man to put down his gun, as dogs barked in the background. 

"Hands up. Come out. Remove the gun. It’s better for everyone," one police officer can be heard saying in a video.

Police negotiating with the suspect spotted him pacing inside his apartment's yard with a loaded pistol.  

The standoff lasted for six-and-a-half hours and ended at around 2am, when police fired several flashbangs. A flashbang is a form of non-lethal grenade that lets off a blinding flash of light and loud noise, to temporarily stun a suspect. 

Police forced the apartment door open and moved in. One of the dogs was shot after attacking an officer, the police said in a statement. 

Officers found the suspect on his bed, holding a shotgun and a pistol. He also had "hundreds" of shotgun rounds, several knives and swords and weapons made of wood inside the house. 

The three dogs are being cared for by the Animal Welfare Department. 

Magistrate Neville Camilleri is leading an inquiry into the incident.

Neighbours describe 'aggressive' man

Chris Grech, who lives on the road, said the situation had started to get “ugly” a couple of days prior, when neighbours noticed that the man walking into the road, shouting and banging on cars. 

Another neighbour,  a woman who declined to be named, said residents feared the man since he seemed “unpredictable” and as often “verbally aggressive.”

“He would often walk out onto this terrace, yelling for no reason and smashing furniture. We’ve often seen him on his terrace with knives,” she said.

Police knew suspect

The woman said that residents in the road had called the police several times before and police had knocked on the man's door and spoken to him in the past. 

“But yesterday [Sunday] they took things forward. At about 7 or 8pm he walked into the street and was hitting cars. He even lit up deodorant with a lighter and aimed it at a neighbour’s friend,” she said.

The neighbour recalled hearing shots fired in the early hours of the morning and described the effect of the flashbangs as being "like thunder". 

"Then there was two minutes silence and more shooting,” the woman said.

Residents who had been evacuated were allowed back into their homes at around 3am, she said.