Real Life Hostage Situation!!!

I just had to share this one...

So this morning (after working well past midnight on a story and in a grumpy mood to boot), I get off the subway in downtown Toronto and notice a commotion. I don't think much of it; neither does an editor of mine who passes me on the station steps.

We get into the office and the place is going nuts (this is a newsroom to begin with, so a flurry of activity is the norm rather than the exception). From our building, you can see across the street that some guy is holding a woman HOSTAGE and the cops are having a standoff!!!

Now unfortunately (for me), I couldn't join my colleagues for a window view for most of this, because just about the biggest story on my beat was breaking at this point, and I had to get to work. I did, however, break free every few minutes to get a ringside seat. We are about 40 stories off the ground, so we couldn't hear what was going on, but the local TV stations had us covered. I sit back down at my desk and hear a SCREAM.

The guy who was holding the hostage has been shot. Everyone drops what they were doing and goes to the window. Blood is literally covering the street. It was the most gruesome thing I've ever seen. As the story goes, the hostage-taker shot a woman (apparently his wife) in a food court two buildings over from mine. The woman he held hostage (a different one) was apparently fine. The guy was shot dead.

I'm sure this type of thing happens frequently in larger cities, but it just freaked me out.....