The Nation - News from May 26, 1986

A gunman held about 40 worshipers hostage in their rural church for nearly two hours until the parishioners got their freedom by buying their captor’s rifle for $500, officials said. Gregory Rolland Danford, 30, stormed the Harrietta, Mich., Methodist Church about 9 a.m., waving the rifle, but did not open fire, State Police Sgt. John Erdody said. One of the parishioners escaped and alerted police, who surrounded the building but did not enter until Danford had turned over his rifle, Erdody said. Danford was taken to a state hospital for psychiatric evaluation, Erdody said.