Hostage Standoff At Beirut Bank Ends With Gunman's Arrest
Newsy
Authorities say the gunman took up to 10 people hostage, demanding the bank release his savings so he could pay his father's medical bills.
A hostage standoff in which a gunman demanded a Beirut bank let him withdraw his trapped savings has ended with the man's surrender and no injuries.
Authorities say 42-year-old Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein entered the bank branch Thursday with a shotgun and a canister of gasoline and threatened to set himself on fire unless he was allowed to take out his money to pay his father's medical bills.
After hours of negotiations, he accepted an offer from the bank to receive part of his savings, according to local media and a depositors group that took part in the talks. He then released his hostages and surrendered.
