Police swooped on the notorious Gatwick Hotel after reports a man wanted over a suspected murder was spotted on the roof on Tuesday afternoon.
The man was believed to be 29-year-old Earl Jones, whom police wish to speak to about the stabbing death of a St Kilda rooming house resident.
![The Gatwick Hotel in St Kilda.](/web/20160805140543im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/f/7/3/1/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqjeq9.png/1470207818249.jpg)
Police surrounded the hotel about 4pm on Tuesday, with officers stationed on every corner and a helicopter hovering above.
They searched the building, but there was no sign of the man.
![Police have arrested St Kilda man Earl Jones over a death in a rooming house.](/web/20160805140543im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/i/f/c/3/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gqjeq9.png/1470207818181.jpg)
Police left the area about an hour later.
One person at the Gatwick during the operation, who didn't want to be identified, said they saw Mr Jones in the area after the police left.
"The police came here and looked around for him, but he wasn't here, so they left," a man leaning out from a third storey window said.
The hotel was in "lock down" during the operation, Shirley, who was inside at the time, said.
"No one was allowed in or out," she said.
"I saw lots of cops everywhere. They were searching everything - cupboards, beds."
Shirley, who was visiting the hotel, estimated there were up to 50 police inside.
She said the situation was tense, with some residents scared.
"Some people were hiding," she said.
However, Dex, who had been staying at the hotel for about a month, described it differently.
"[It went] very easy because the police here are good," he said.
"[Residents] weren't scared, they were just hanging around watching the drama unfold."
Homicide detectives want to speak Mr Jones about the death of 45-year-old Stephen Lowry, whose body was found at The Regal boarding home in Little Grey Street early on Monday morning.
It is believed a man savagely attacked Mr Lowry with a knife after confronting him about an ongoing dispute.
Mr Lowry was well-known among residents of the other rooming houses in the street.
Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Mick Hughes said there was no sign of forced entry.
Police have released an image of Mr Jones, urging him to hand himself into police.