Hostage Taking Bank Robber Killed In North Carolina

NY Times - A man who took several hostages at a bank in Cary was shot to death Thursday as he tried to leave with a woman at gunpoint, the authorities said. The Cary police chief, Pat Bazemore, said no hostages were injured during the three-hour standoff at the Wachovia branch in the Raleigh suburb. She said that seven people were inside the bank and that six of them were taken hostage. The seventh hid and gave information to the police about what was happening in the bank. Police identified the dead man as 19-year-old Devon Mitchell. “This is absolutely not how we wanted this to end,” Chief Bazemore said. 

Talk about getting jacked up over a news story.  I was popping pop-corn and on the edge of my seat like 12 year old girl watching the results show on Idol watching this play out on the evening news. I was rivetet. 

I thought scenes like this only played out in Denzel Washington movies (who I assume was frantically on the phone buying the movie rights as this shit played itself out). It had everything hostages, cops with awesome assault rifles, and a crazy ass robber trying to make his last stand by walking out with a hostage at gun point. 

Gotta question the robbers decision to come out though, I know he tried to use the hostage as a human shield and all, but he's gotta understand these cops have been fantasizing about this situation all their lives, Chief Bazemore's "not how we wanted this to end" quote be damned. This is North Carolina.  While you and I were out back pretending to be John Elway or Nomar Garciaparra, these gun toting rednecks were running around dreaming of exactly this, a robber using a human a shield and squeezing off that perfect shot to kill the robber and free the hostage.  This was their game winning home run.  

A guys dream came true today. And that's a pretty special thing.