Hotel Hostage-Taking May Have Been Fake
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Gunmen who claimed to be holding several people in a small hotel surrendered, and officials suggested that the two-day standoff in the Black Sea town of Lazarevskoye in southern Russia might have been a fake hostage-taking started on a drunken whim. The gunmen had demanded $30 million and a helicopter. After the three surrendered, they were charged with hostage-taking, a regional official said. But First Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Kozlov said he believed that the gunmen “playacted a hostage-taking, which, in fact, didn’t take place.”
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
