Police found a man carrying a gun in Ballarat this week as officers ramp up foot and bicycle patrols throughout the CBD.
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It’s believed officers first received reports of the man acting suspiciously around Mair and Sturt streets about 2pm last Tuesday.
Travelling to the scene, officers suddenly saw the man jump a fence, prompting them to give chase on foot.
Police eventually managed to apprehend and search the 36-year-old, uncovering a handgun.
It appeared it was an unloaded homemade gun and the man had no ammunition on him, according to police.
“We don’t come across people with firearms in Ballarat often.”
The man was arrested and taken to the Dana Street police station to be interviewed, with officers seizing the firearm as evidence.
An investigation remains ongoing and the man was yet to be charged as of Friday afternoon.
The arrest was made as part of a new Ballarat police operation this summer that has been led by a sergeant with four dedicated officers, including two on bicycles and two on foot patrolling the CBD.
The seizure of the 36-year-old man’s homemade gun in the CBD this week comes just months after a father found another homemade gun in Lake Esmond while swimming with his children back in November.