Police say they didn't shoot a shirtless gunman who has been taken to hospital after a stand-off in Brisbane's Queen Street Mall.
Police say the man is now in custody after being subdued. He's been taken to hospital in an ambulance.
A police media spokesman said he could not say what weapon police used to subdue the man.
"It wasn't bullets, it wasn't rubber bullets, it wasn't a Taser," he said. "There was not blood everywhere, as has been reported."
(AAP)
The siege came to a climax after witnesses reported hearing shots from the scene.
It's unclear if the gunman, who was armed with a handgun, discharged his own weapon.
The stand-off led to the evacuation of thousands of shoppers and workers from the busy mall precinct.
Chief Superintendent Mark Ainsworth told reporters at the scene that the man had been taken into custody, and had suffered only minor injuries.
He declined to elaborate and said the police ethical standards command would investigate. No one else was hurt during the incident.
Earlier, Supt Ainsworth said police who were engaged in standard police operations in the city had confronted the man. He had responded by pulling out a handgun.
Teams of heavily armed officers were called to the mall and quickly confined the gunman to a shop. Witnesses have given varying accounts of what happened.
(AAP)
Taxi driver Tariq Khan, who witnessed the final moments of the siege, told reporters the gunman was screaming to police, "Shoot me, shoot me!" He said that at one stage the gunman was offered cigarettes, accepted them and smoked one.
Another witness, Brett Morris, told the Seven Network he saw officers shoot the man in the arm or shoulder. But apparently it wasn't with a gun.
The gunman, who is known to police, was taken to Royal Brisbane Hospital. The mall is returning to normal after the siege was declared over.
Distraught shoppers leave the Queen Street Mall. (AAP)
Retiree Michael Millier watched the siege play out from a clothing store on the mall. He said he watched the shirtless gunman run from a restaurant holding a pistol in outstretched arms and pointing it at the ground.
The man was yelling and then pointed the gun at three elderly people who were sitting on a seat, Mr Millier said.
"They just froze in terror," he told reporters.
"Then SWAT teams came from three different sides firing and he fell on the ground and started wriggling in agony. "I don't think they were real bullets, they didn't sound like real bullets."
An unknown gunman holding a gun towards his neck at Brisbane's Queen Street Mall.(AAP Image/Twitter)
The scene unfolded about 30 metres from the Cotton On store, and Mr Millier said police were telling him to get back as he took photos.
He showed reporters a photo of a shirtless man in shorts holding a pistol behind his back. He said the man didn't fire the weapon but was waving it around.
Mr Millier said he wasn't scared but he was surprised. "I didn't expect it today, coming into Brisbane, but then these things can happen anywhere," he said.
Police later told AAP "less than lethal" rounds had been used on the gunman, but could not say what type.
