Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Police free hostages from McDonald's; no gunman found

HAMPTON, Va. (AP) -- A nearly 4-hour standoff at a McDonald's restaurant that included a SWAT team rescue of 14 hostages from a freezer was apparently a hoax that spun out of control because of a sudden police presence outside, police said.

When it was over Monday, police could not find a gunman anywhere, all none of the 14 people that had hidden in fear in the freezer said they has seen an armed man.

It happened like this, Hampton police spokeswoman Allison Good said:

Police responded to a cell phone call at 1:54 p.m. by a caller who claimed to have a gun inside the restaurant, and police officers quickly headed to the scene

When management saw police swarming outside, the managers apparently ordered 12 employees and two customers into the freezer, which locks from the inside.

The first officers on the scene saw a man standing at the restaurant doorway, and he quickly bolted into the restaurant and disappeared from sight, Good said.

Attempts by negotiators to reach the supposed gunman were unsuccessful.

About 3 hours later, a SWAT team freed the people from inside the freezer using a key that opened it from the outside, police said. And less than an hour later, officers went into the restaurant, searched and announced that there was no gunman.

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