LIMA, Peru – A bank robber held 34 people hostage for more than seven hours in a nationally televised drama that ended when a police sniper crawled through a ventilation duct and shot him in the head, authorities said. He died moments later.
The drama began Friday afternoon when the robber entered the Continental Bank in Lima's clothes-manufacturing district carrying a 9 mm pistol and claiming to have explosives, Juan Fernandez, head of a special police tactical unit, told The Associated Press.
As the robber was about to leave, he saw police arriving and decided to take hostages, Fernandez said, one of whom he wounded with a gunshot and the other with a blow to the head.
Police did not identify the thief. Relatives of the wounded hostages said Saturday that they were recovering.
About 100 police officers surrounded the bank in an effort to force the robber's surrender, but made no progress," Fernandez said. "The thief was intransigent. He demanded 2 million soles ($689,000) and a helicopter to flee."
Officials then decided to use force. While some officers distracted the hostage-taker by banging on the bank's door, a sniper sneaked through a ventilation duct and shot the thief, Fernandez said.
The robber died a few minutes later, said police spokesman Col. Abel Gamarra.
Peruvian television began broadcasting coverage of the standoff soon after it began.
The drama began Friday afternoon when the robber entered the Continental Bank in Lima's clothes-manufacturing district carrying a 9 mm pistol and claiming to have explosives, Juan Fernandez, head of a special police tactical unit, told The Associated Press.
As the robber was about to leave, he saw police arriving and decided to take hostages, Fernandez said, one of whom he wounded with a gunshot and the other with a blow to the head.
Police did not identify the thief. Relatives of the wounded hostages said Saturday that they were recovering.
About 100 police officers surrounded the bank in an effort to force the robber's surrender, but made no progress," Fernandez said. "The thief was intransigent. He demanded 2 million soles ($689,000) and a helicopter to flee."
Officials then decided to use force. While some officers distracted the hostage-taker by banging on the bank's door, a sniper sneaked through a ventilation duct and shot the thief, Fernandez said.
The robber died a few minutes later, said police spokesman Col. Abel Gamarra.
Peruvian television began broadcasting coverage of the standoff soon after it began.
