A Nonhostage Crisis Situation

I am reading Dave Cullen's book Columbine. It is absolutely riveting. As is my custom here, I will write about some of the things I learn.

When the murders were unfolding, the media was told by the Jefferson County Sheriff officials that it was a hostage situation. Of course, it was not. To the feds (F.B.I.) the distinction between hostage and nonhostage situations is critical. Here is Cullen's explanation. "With hostages, negotiations remain highly visible, make the gunmen work for everything, and firmly establish that the police are in control. In nonhostage situations, they keep a low profile, "giving a little without getting in return" (for example, offering cigarettes to build rapport), and avoid even a slight implication that anyone but the gunmen are in control. The goal with hostages is to gradually lower expectations; in nonhostage crises it's to lower emotions."

From the F.B.I. field manual and Cullen's book: "Hostages are a means to fulfill demands. The primary goal is not to harm the hostages. In fact, hostage-takers realize that only through keeping the hostages alive can they hope to achieve their goals. They act rationally. Nonhostage gunmen do not. The humans mean nothing to them. These individuals act in an emotional, senseless, and often-self-destructive way. They typically issue no demands. What they want is what they already have, the victim. The potential for homocide followed by suicide ln many of these cases is very high."

Eric Harris was the leader, Dylan Klebold was the follower. Dylan and his father, Tom, were "very close," or so Tom believed. Tom was against guns, and he was sure that there would be no guns found by the police, because he "knew" that Dylan also was against guns (Eric and Dylan had been planning these murders for over a year). The police did not find guns in the Klebold house; they found pipe bombs. Tom had been one of the persons who called 9-11. He did so after receiving a call at his home office from one of Dylan's friends, who had told him the killers had been wearing trenchcoats. Tom went into Dylan's room and looked in the closet: no trenchcoat. He immediately called police to tell them his son might be involved. The police immediately cordoned off the Klebold and Harris residences to look for evidence.