Forensic Colleges

Hostage situations are a very real and very terrifying situation. Whether the person taking hostage is upset for being terminated, is trying to prove a point, or is just a random act, hostage situations can end very badly and seem to be happening more recently. The following are some hostage situations that have plagued the media in the last year:

On September 6, 2010, 29 year old Robert Anthony Quinones, stormed an Army Community Hospital and held 3 hospital workers hostage. He entered the hospital in the early morning hours armed with a semiautomatic rifle and a semiautomatic submachine gun demanding mental treatment. Quinones was medically discharged from the Army months before and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. No one was hurt and he eventually surrendered and later told investigators that he planned to kill President Obama and former President Bill Clinton; Quinones was charged with kidnapping, assualt with a deadly weapon, and charges relating to his assassination threats.

On September 2, 2010 James Lee stormed the Discovery Channel headquarters in Maryland and took three people hostage. Lee, who was carrying guns and wearing explosives, was upset with the channel about programming and had been arrested for disorderly conduct in 2008 for staging protests against the station. Lee had a long history of protest against the channel and often wrote negatively about it online and in his blogs. After several hours of police telephone negotiations Lee pointed his gun at one of the hostages and tactical officers then shot at Lee, killing him; none of the hostages were injured.

In June of 2010, 25 year old Anthony Alvarez, who was wanted by authorities in connection with three armed robberies, attempted murder, and shooting at a police officer, hid from police. When police received a tip-off of where Alvarez was staying he grabbed his cousin’s 16 month old boy and ran into an apartment, holding the boy hostage. In what turned into a 56 hour standoff, several gunfire exchanges between Alvarez and SWAT forced the city to close down busy surrounding streets and businesses. On the third day, SWAT blew a hole in the wall and swarmed the apartment, killing Alvarez and rescuing the baby boy, who was not injured.

In November of 2009, 42 year old Christopher Craft snuck into Stissing Mountain Middle School in upstate New York. Craft, who was a former student, hid a disassembled shotgun on him, assembled it in the bathroom and took the principal, Bob Hess hostage for over two hours. Craft yelled at administrators and was visibly upset but did not specifically threaten or harm anyone, according to police. Craft eventually surrendered and was arrested on charges of first-degree kidnapping, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal trespassing.

In December of 2009, 53 year old Warren Taylor, stormed a post office in Wtheville, Virgina with an explosive and a pistol and held three people inside the post office hostage. Hostages claimed Taylor ranted about his hatred for the federal government, the government’s overtaxing, and the repossession of his truck. Taylor, who was in a wheelchair, shot at a postmaster and at police at some point and surrendered himself and let his hostages go after about 8 hours- no one was harmed. Taylor had been planning the attack for some time was charged with kidnapping and other federal charges.

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