Hypothetical hostage solutions.

[Shinobi Train]

Okay, I just can't help myself. I want some solutions for safely (and for fun, even brutally) getting out of a hostage situation. This could be you, someone else that you're helping or just any situation you want to create, but here's one to solve for those that would rather not come up with their own. ^_^

Spoiler

You're in a bank, it's the one you always go to at the same time every day, and you notice something odd up at the front of the line. The teller is looking scared and the man she's talking to is creepy, and that's an understatement. Moments later everyone's on the ground, including you (and of course the bad guy's speech must be heard xd).

So the dude walks around and he happens to wander near you while he's on some drunken, verbal rampage. He's basically forgotten for the moment what he's even there to do, more worried about telling you how bad his life sucks. How would you handle this situation if you were unnarmed? Would you do anything? What about if you were armed, and what would your weapon of choice be?

So with or without a weapon, what would your strategy be, if you were on the ground and close by, to take down the perp? Would you do it at all and hope everything turns out okay? Remember, this guy is at best drunk out of his mind, but he could be on other substances as well, and he's definitely mental. It's your call.

Okay, I hope people see this as being fun, but I'd really appreciate some serious answers too. A mixture of both would be awesome. ^_^

 

[Aim64C]

Generally speaking, unless I am armed (and most banks do not allow you to carry into their lobby...), there is no reason for me to engage the target. The chances of being shot are high, as are the chances of causing confusion for authorities (and possibly getting shot by them). I would, in most situations, simply wait for the police to deal with it. There's no need in anyone getting harmed over money.

If, however, there existed reason to believe he would be causing harm to individuals, the following applies:

His overall demeanor suggests a lack of discipline and focus. Likely no military or formal hand-to-hand combat training.

I am, however, on the ground. An effective strike from prone is very difficult. His armament would determine whether or not I'd go for it. If he's using a rifle - that's a long piece of metal to grab hold of and affords me some control over the situation. On the other hand, a handgun is a little more difficult to counter in close-quarters.

It also depends upon the crowd. I'm going to be making eye contact with others around me to see if I am going to be able to count on any of them backing me up. The odds are that I'm going to get shot - I'm fine with that so long as others are going to capitalize on his temporary vulnerability. If I can't rally a little bit of support, I'm not going to get shot and become an 'example' to demoralize the rest of the group.

I'm also going to look at what is available around me. Pens and pencils make for nice puncture weapons. Staplers and hole punches are heavy as hell and can be thrown for devastating effect. Pencil sharpeners of the bladed variety have razor blades that I may be able to quietly free from the sharpener. Rolling or sliding a chair into a wall or desk can divert attention away from you for the split second necessary to act. Cabinets can be pushed over, desks can be used as concealment while allowing you to look or attack from under them.

The key thing here is that I'm not viewing myself as a victim. I'm a predator being taken for a sheep. That's fine, the less my prey knows, the better. If he's substantially larger than me, my targets are his knees and elbows - it only takes about 8lbs of force to snap the elbow. Using kinematics to leverage an advantage, I'm snapping anything I get a hold of. Fingers, knees, elbows - a neck. Doesn't matter. Anything and everything I get the chance to destroy is going to be destroyed with violence and force of action until he's on the ground and no longer posing a threat.

The most important thing is that once you 'break his rules' - it's life or death for you. There's not likely going to be any going back. If you choke after standing up - he's likely to spazz and start shooting in your general direction. Once you decide you're going to do something, and make so much as a twitch toward doing it... you die if you fail (generally, you fail if you stop). You don't go easy on your target. You don't "try to disable" - you bring that target down with every ounce of force you have, and you do not let up for even the tiniest fraction of a second until that target is no longer a threat. Break bones, gouge eyes, shred flesh - whatever is necessary.

So, the decision to commit to aggressive action is one to be taken cautiously and with careful evaluation. It's just as likely to get you killed as it is to succeed - thus, he needs to be posing a threat that necessitates you risking your own life before it makes sense to commit.

 

[Frankenstein]

Rational arguments wouldn't work so I would say nothing unless he asked me personally. If he did I would respond in a way that would make me seem even worse so that he could relate to me and not harm me. Then I would try to convince him that I am with him and try to temporarily change sides, siding with him. When the drunk fool believed me I would backstab him either by somehow helping the police or if I had a weapon take him out somehow (not kill him).
Satanic plan isn't it?

If I knew martial arts then no weapon needed, just hit him at the right place and he will black out.

Well having a weapon in a bank is not so realistic so I would have to improvise and hit him on the head with something heavy.