Man holding hostages at US college!

CatoCooper13

CatoCooper13

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AP - A man with a gun and a knife claiming to be a member of al-Qaeda took a classroom of US college students hostage.

Four people were released several hours into the standoff, authorities said.

Because the gunman claimed to be a member of an international terrorist organisation, the FBI has been called in, but Police Chief Bobby Williamson said authorities have no reason to believe the claim.

A SWAT team and about five hostage negotiators were among the officers called to the scene.

No injuries or gunshots were reported in the standoff at Dyersburg State Community College, about 120 km north-east of Memphis, Tennessee.

The gunman, believed to have a 9mm pistol - the calibre now used by US armed forces - had made no demands but said he would kill himself, Williamson said.

Williamson said About 12 to 16 people were in the classroom when the standoff began.

Officers were communicating to the gunman through student hostages on their mobile phones, "but he won't talk directly to us," Williamson said.

Police refused to identify the gunman but said he was not a student or college employee. They are talking to his sister on the scene, but the gunman won't talk to her, Williamson said.

"I think eventually he'll surrender," Williamson said.

Athletic director Alan Barnett said that authorities cleared the campus of other students.



©AAP 2003
 
I'm not surprised... considering how this world is going to the dumps! Hehehe!
 
**Update**

US police kill hostage taker
AP - A gunman held at least a dozen people hostage in a college classroom before he was shot and killed by police after a nine-hour standoff. Two hostages were wounded.

Police rushed into the building at Dyersburg State Community College around 10 p.m. Wednesday (0200 GMT) after hearing shots. Authorities said the gunman, 26-year-old Harold Kilpatrick Jr., had left a note saying he "wanted to kill some people and die today."

Dyersburg Police Chief Bobby Williamson initially said Kilpatrick fatally shot himself, but he later confirmed that officers shot him.

"Our people shot one - the hostage-taker - and two others were wounded," Williamson said.

It was not immediately clear whether the two hostages were wounded by police or Kilpatrick. Williamson said the injuries to the hostages were not serious.




Four ambulances were at the college building in Dyersburg, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northeast of Memphis. Three people were carried out of the building on stretchers. Police escorted several other people from the building.

Kilpatrick, believed to have had a 9mm pistol and what looked like a butcher knife, made no demands - aside from food and drink - during the standoff. In the evening, he asked for six pepperoni pizzas and two six-packs of soft drinks, which police delivered.

Kilpatrick claimed to be a member of al-Qaida, and Williamson said that although authorities had no reason to believe the claim, the FBI had been called in. Justice Department officials in Washington also said they had no evidence that the gunman was a member of the terrorist organization.

Authorities said Kilpatrick was staying with his sister in Dyersburg. In the suicide note, left at his sister's house, he also said he didn't like Americans and had spoken with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, Williamson said.

Kilpatrick faced criminal charges of assault and kidnapping in another case, Dyersburg police spokesman Charles Maxey said. He had no details but said Kilpatrick had been scheduled to appear in a Memphis courtroom Wednesday.

Williamson said there were 12 to 16 people in the classroom when the standoff began. About three hours later, three students were released - all women, one of whom was pregnant. The teacher remained in the classroom.

Officers communicated with the gunman through student hostages on their cell phones, but Kilpatrick wouldn't speak directly to police, Williamson said.

Police said Kilpatrick was not a student or college employee. They talked to his sister at the scene, but the gunman wouldn't talk to her, Williamson said.



©AAP 2003
 
I'm still not surprised. Reminds me of what happened a couple years ago when this high school kid said that he liked Bin Laden and tried to fly a small plane into a building.
 
:roll: more crazy people are doing crazy things lately oh well that continues to tell people that they are gonna do something crazy and can try to be like wannabe bin geez.. I hope no one does crazy things again like to WTC or banks or whatever
 
some ppl would want to kill themselves -- "suicide by cops" :roll:

yes Purrs -- there ARE crazy ppl out there -- sometimes they are unnoticed for YEARS til they crack and do something so insane
 
Yeah, it's quite unfortunate that a lot of people go undetected and not realising they have some degree of insanity that could somehow affect people in general.
 
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