McMains: Crisis Negotiations: Managing Critical Incidents and Hostage Situations in Law Enforcement and Corrections, 4th Edition

Case Studies with Questions and Answers

Chapter 01: Crisis Management: History and Overview

On September 27, 2006, a gunman by the name of Duane Roger Morrison, 57, walked into Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado and took five students and one teacher hostage. According to law enforcement officials and one of the six hostages, Morrison had ordered all of the females to face the board and proceeded to sexually assault every one of them. The degree and extent to which the hostages were assaulted remains unknown.

Morrison never expressed any demand aside from the retreat of law enforcement. He wanted to be left alone and had given a 4:00 deadline. He said, "something would happen at 4 p.m." He never spoke to authorities directly; instead he employed the hostages as medium between himself and the negotiator. Prior to 3:00p.m. Morrison had released four of the hostages. The remainder of the school was on lock down and ordered to remain in their classes until the incident had been resolved.

At 3:45 Sheriff Fred Wegener made the decision to tactically secure the remaining hostages and forcefully take Morrison captive. In response to an inquisition of his decision he responded: "My decision was to either wait, and have the possibility of having two dead hostages or act and try to save what I feared he would do to them…because I'd want whoever was in my position, to do the same thing, and that is to save lives." Jefferson County SWAT took the second story room by storm which resulted in the death of one hostage, Emily Keyes, 16 and Morrison, who died by his own hand.

Questions

Was the tactic taken by Sheriff Wegener the best approach to resolve the problem?

Correct Answer

There is no correct answer. A lot of factors come into play in an incident such as this one. Given Morrison's 4:00 deadline, Wegener could have very well have made the best decision to preserve life.

What can be said about Morrison's refusal to speak with authorities? What can be said about his actions of sexual assault? What can be said about him taking his own life?

Correct Answer

The questions posed force one to think about the various roles a hostage taker can take on. It seems as though Morrison knew he was not going to survive the incident and had already planned to take his life. Could his urge to sexually assault minors indicate mental instability?

How is the Platte Canyon High School Incident different from Columbine?
Your Answer

Correct Answer

Incidents like Columbine do not provide time for negotiations, this was not the case. Some could argue that Sheriff's Wegener decision to end the situation tactically is a result of his inability to negotiate and communicate effectively.