Gunman Gives Up, Frees Hostages at London Nightclub
A gunman surrendered to police Sunday after bursting into a crowded London nightclub and holding more than 100 people hostage while he drank whiskey and snorted cocaine.
The 10 1/2-hour siege ended when the gunman was persuaded to leave his last six hostages and walk up a staircase where police were waiting, said Detective Supt. Alex Edwards of Scotland Yard.
The gunman, who was not identified and whose motive was unclear, was taken in for questioning.
Police said some hostages needed medical attention, and one was taken out on a stretcher.
The hostages included members of the Kuwaiti royal family, according to Yacoub Ibrahim, a witness. The club, Tokyo Joe’s on Clarges Street off Piccadilly, is a favorite haunt of Middle Easterners, and Scotland Yard confirmed that a number of Arab VIPs were there.
The gunman, who appeared to be Lebanese, had been armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, a rifle, a bayonet, a replica hand gun and a fake bomb, Edwards said.
“The bomb was a sophisticated hoax,” Edwards said.
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