A man has appeared in court facing imitation firearm charges following a standoff with armed police in Inverurie.
Specialist firearms officers swooped on the Crichie Circle area of Port Elphinstone on Wednesday following reports of what locals described as “a man with a gun”.
Police shut off surrounding streets for six hours before finally entering a property at 9pm, bringing the tense stand-off to an end.
Now, Alastair MacKinnon has appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in connection with the incident.
BB gun allegedly aimed at traffic and woman
The 41-year-old, of Inverurie, faced three charges – possession of an imitation firearm in a public place and two of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.
It is understood MacKinnon is alleged to have pointed a BB gun at vehicles as well as at a woman.
He made no plea during the hearing and was remanded in custody while the case against him was committed for further examination.
MacKinnon will re-appear in the dock within the next eight days.
At the time of the incident, a police spokeswoman said: “Officers, including specialist officers, are currently in attendance at an address in Port Elphinstone, Inverurie, following reports of a man seen in possession of a possible weapon in the Elphinstone Road area.
“Police were called to the scene at around 2.55pm on Wednesday January 25 and a 41-year-old man was arrested. Inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”
During the day, a number of houses had been closed off, and police asked residents to stay inside their homes.
Children and adults making their way home from school and work were not being allowed access to their homes, and many stayed in a nearby community centre.
There were six police vans, as well as two police cars in the area, with officers stationed and guarding the entrance to the estate.
There were also two NHS incident support vehicles on the scene.
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