Escaping the Crime Scene with a Hostage

Factual Questions
1

Here’s the scenario: A bank robber enters a bank, pulls out a gun and demands money. He gets his money but not without cops arriving on the scene. He decides to take a hostage in order to escape. He tells the cops he’ll kill the hostage if they come closer or try to follow. From here, either he (1) gets away with the hostage, abandons the hostage, and escapes, or (2) the cops talk him out of murder and get the hostage and criminal safely.

Here’s the question: How often does this happen? Does taking a hostage ever work for the criminal? It always seems to me like situation 2 is what happens more often.

Thanks for any replies.

2

Sometimes they do try to kill the hostage and the cops move in fast. Sometimes a police sniper gets a shot and gets the hostage taker.

3

In hollywood films it’s standard practice for the police sniper to line up the hostage taker in his sites and then hesitate just long enough for the hostage to get in the way…

4

Still, has this ever worked for the criminal? Car chases, for example, usually end with the criminals getting caught but sometimes they do get away. Are there any cases where a hostage taker has been able to arrange his escape?