A 25-year-old man has been detained by police following a search operation in the North Shore Road area of Hamilton Parish.

An onlooker said a handcuffed male made gang-related hand gestures from the back of a police car as he was driven away from the scene at about 8.20pm.

A home in the area, near Shelly Bay MarketPlace, was cordoned off by officers late this afternoon and North Shore Road was closed to traffic — causing massive tailbacks.

“At around 4pm today, police attended a residence in North Shore Road, Hamilton Parish area, in the vicinity of Shelly Bay MarketPlace, seeking a suspect in relation to an ongoing investigation,” a police spokesman said.

“An area around the home was cordoned off and a 25-year-old Devonshire man is now in custody assisting with enquiries.”

The spokesman was unable to comment on whether the operation was related to a firearms incident, or linked to the recent shooting near Fairmont Southampton.

“I cannot speak to that at this point in time,” he said.

Police would neither confirm nor deny whether any hostages had been involved.

A large number of armed police officers with their weapons drawn lined up during the operation.

Police with dogs attended the scene and officers kept onlookers back. A bulldozer was also on standby.

A crowd of about 50 gathered in the area by the MarketPlace, at the Crawl, and no one was allowed to pass through the area.

One female resident said she had “seen things, seen the worst of accidents happen here, but this is the worst I have ever seen, no lie”.

Traffic in the area was heavily delayed while the police worked, with tailbacks to Shelly Bay park. Seven public buses that had lined up were allowed to leave at about 8.30pm.

Some traffic was being allowed on Radnor Road at about the same time, although North Shore Road remained shut around the scene.

Further updates will be provided as soon as we have them.