Standoff in Indianapolis : Gunman Holds Girlfriend, 2 Others 16 Hours

A gunman on amphetamines who said he took his girlfriend hostage because he loved her surrendered to police today after holding three women captive for up to 16 hours in a downtown office building.

During the standoff the gunman, identified as Stan Richard Beatty, 37, had asked his attorney to draw up a will for him and had wanted to scatter money over the city with balloons.

The last of the hostages, the girlfriend, emerged sobbing from the King Cole Building at 7:22 a.m.

No one was injured in the standoff, which began at 3:15 p.m. Monday. Police Chief Paul A. Annee said he believes that the hostages wore down the gunman, who was armed with a .38-caliber gun and a .357 Magnum revolver, by playing on his sympathy.

Beatty, of Indianapolis, was taken to Wishard Memorial Hospital for observation because he had been taking drugs, police said.

Asked as he got into a squad car why he took his girlfriend, Kathy Hall, and others hostage, he said, “Because I love her.”

Annee said Beatty, who has served jail time, had a history of harassing his girlfriend at the office, and police had been called there before.

“This is unreal,” said Betsy Greene, daughter of one of the hostages, as she waited for news of her mother. “Hostages don’t get taken in Indianapolis.”