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Baltimore Burger King Hostage Situation: 7-Year-Old Girl Is Among Those Being Held By Rape Suspect [Video]

By Dee Sharp
Published on: 08:59 PST, Jul 17, 2016

Updated July 19, 3:00 p.m. EST – Suspect in hostage situation in Baltimore Burger King on Sunday, July 17, has been identified as George Johnson, as seen in the video above. Johnson will be facing several charges in addition to the rape charge that had police looking for him. When police spotted him on Sunday morning, a chase ensued, leading Johnson to the Burger King where he held four people hostage, including a 7-year-old girl. Read the rest of this article for more information on the story.

Updated 9:25 p.m. EST – The Baltimore Sun identified the 7-year-old girl who was held hostage earlier today in a Baltimore Burger King as Kamya Commander. Kamya’s mother, Keysha MacKall, told the Sun that she was relieved that her daughter and the other hostages had been released unharmed.

“It’s been like hell,” MacKall said. “My nerves was all over the place…I’m just glad she’s fine. She’s here.”

Kamya is related to an employee who works at the Burger King, but they were not identified. The suspect and other hostages have not been identified yet either.

Updated 9:00 p.m. EST – According to the Orlando Sentinel, the rape suspect who took four hostages at a Burger King in Baltimore earlier today apparently “had a change of heart.” Baltimore police spokesman T.J. Smith said that after lengthy negotiations, the gunman “went through a wide range of emotions.” Smith said he thought the gunman “was exhausted and didn’t want to get hurt.”

Relatives of the gunman and the hostages also helped police negotiators during the five-hour ordeal to convince the gunman to surrender. An aunt of the 7-year-old girl who was held hostage, Danielle Montgomery, 32, talked to the suspect and convinced him to throw his gun out and to surrender to police.

“He was crying and said he didn’t want to die,” said the aunt, who is a bus driver with the Maryland Transportation Administration.

The four hostages included the 7-year-old girl, a 17-year-old employee, a 25-year-0ld manager, and a 67-year-old customer. The teen was released at 1:45 p.m. and the 67-year-old customer was released at 2:20 p.m. The standoff ended shortly before 5 p.m. when the suspect surrendered. The name of the suspect has still not been released at this time.

Updated 5:31 p.m. EST – Several hours after this hostage situation began, police now have the suspect who was holding people hostage at a Baltimore Burger King in custody, according to ABC News. No hostages were harmed, but names of the suspect and hostages have still not been released. Please read the rest of this article for information on how the drama started.

Hours after a protest against police in Baltimore resulted in more than 60 arrests, a hostage situation at a Burger King restaurant has developed, according to the New York Daily News. The hostage situation is ongoing and as of now there is a stand-off with police outside the Burger King location in Baltimore, Maryland. The stand-off began this morning around 11 a.m. EST when officers spotted a rape suspect, who was wanted in connection to a rape that happened within the last couple of days. The police gave chase, and the suspect crashed into another car, jumped out, and ran into the Burger King with a gun, according to police.

The suspect then took everyone in the restaurant hostage, including a 7-year-old girl. ABC News reported that there were about four hostages including the girl in the Burger King in Southwest Baltimore. Police quickly swarmed the restaurant, including a SWAT team, and began negotiations with the gunman. Police spokesman T. J. Smith said in a news conference that negotiators were trying to resolve the situation “peacefully and quickly.”

“We just want to end this situation peacefully for everybody involved.”

At about 2:30 p.m. EST, one of three adults was released, as reported by local media. CBS Baltimore reported that the adult released was male and that three people, including the 7-year-old were still being held by the gunman. CBS Baltimore said that the suspect had collided with the other vehicle in the 1700 block of Washington Blvd. and Monroe St. when he fled into the Burger King and took hostages. The driver of the other vehicle was injured, but was treated for their injuries.

Police have not released the names of the suspect or the hostages, as the situation is ongoing. No shots have been heard in the restaurant as of yet, but two hostages, including the young girl, are still being held. The video below shows scenes from the breaking developments.

The Baltimore Sun reported that at about 4 p.m. EST, another adult hostage had been released, leaving two adults and the 7-year-old girl as the suspect’s hostages. Apparently, several customers and employees had escaped the restaurant when the suspect entered. One of those who escaped was Ryan Weinberger, 29, of Glen Burnie. Weinberger said he was in the dining room when the suspect entered, yelling repeatedly, “Don’t come in here!”

Weinberger said the man “appeared frantic and was talking on a cellphone.” One of two other customers grabbed Weinberger and said, “Get out – run.”

Weinberger said that a “young girl with pigtails” had been playing a game on an iPhone behind the counter when he ordered, and he had assumed she was an employee’s child. Weinberger said when he escaped the Burger King location, he called his girlfriend, thankful that he had escaped. He and his girlfriend have a child together, which made him even more thankful, and he said that he had been scared.

“You only see this stuff in movies. It’s scary, all those SWAT cops, as many cop cars as I’ve seen in my life.”

The Baltimore Sun also mentioned that the area had been cordoned off about a block away from the crime scene for safety purposes. Tactical units were lined up with their guns drawn along the exterior wall of the Burger King.

This situation happened just hours after a protest in Baltimore against police brutality ended last night with the arrest of over 60 people connected to the protest, and the shooting in Baton Rouge of five more police officers this morning, where three of the officers were killed. Just last month, another hostage situation happened at a Walmart in Amarillo, Texas, where the suspect was killed after holding Walmart employees hostage.

Hopefully, this hostage situation in Baltimore will end soon, and no one will be hurt.

[Image Via Youtube]

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