A Commercial Hostage Situation

In a small convenience store located in an Appalachian town, two men wearing masks, attempt to rob the store. Both men have guns. Besides the two gunmen, the people in the store are the owner, who is behind the checkout counter, and six customers, located in different aisles in the store. The gunmen ask for money from the cash register, but the owner denies their request. While the gunmen and the owner are arguing, one of the customers calls the police from his cell phone, and within 4 minutes, a police car pulls up in front of the store. One of the gunmen locks the store’s front door, and the robbery has quickly turned into a hostage situation. The hostage situation lasts for 7 hours. Given the information presented earlier, imagine what goes on during those 7 hours.

Discussion Questions

1. Discuss how the hostage takers and the hostages think, feel, and act during the different stages of the situation.

2. What would be some follow-up resources for the hostages?

3. What might be some multicultural considerations for the hostages?

4. What would be some key counseling skills to use with the hostages? See Chapter 4 for information on such skills.