Man charged over armed siege on NSW South Coast

A man will face court today after an armed siege south of Sydney yesterday.

Officers with the Lake Illawarra police district responded to reports of shots being fired on Windang Road, Windang, just before 9.30am yesterday.

Police were told a masked 40-year-old man armed with two firearms had opened fire at passing vehicles and pedestrians, before fortifying himself inside a nearby dive shop.

The armed man allegedly held the shop owner against his will before releasing him without injury.

There were initial fears he could have left explosives in the store.

But NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Joseph Cassar said the bomb and rescue unit examined the shop and deemed it safe.

"People were panicking, it was terrifying, everyone was just running," witness Lachlan Cade Oldroyd told 9News.

"I just panicked and ran with the crowd, jumped the fence and ran back to mine."

Local officers established a perimeter during the incident with help from the Tactical Operations Unit, police negotiators and the dog squad.

After a period of negotiations, the armed man surrendered to police and was taken into custody just before 10.30am.

He was taken to Lake Illawarra police station and later charged with two offences relating to firing a weapon and one count of taking or detaining a person with intent to gain advantage.

A crime scene was established at the dive shop and at a home in Windang.

Police allegedly seized two unsecured firearms, five gel blaster firearms, military knives, six replica handguns, a police uniform and child abuse material from the home.

The man was charged with using an unregistered firearm, not keeping a firearm safely and possessing child abuse material.

The man is due to face Wollongong Local Court today.