Jon Perez and his two buddies have just embarked on a weekend adventure in the remote foothills of Kern County, California when they are ambushed by a mysterious stranger that holds them hostage at gunpoint. Miles from help and without cell phone service, the three boys are led inside a cabin one-by-one, and are expecting to be executed by their captor. Thinking quickly, the boys convince the stranger their parents are due to arrive any minute and fabricate an escape opportunity for their captor to get away in time. But will the narrow window of his absence be enough ...
Patients and medical staff are caught off guard when an armed gunman takes patients in a maternity ward hostage and causes an entire Utah hospital to go into lock down. He's violent, dangerous and unpredictable even by the standards of the arriving SWAT teams who think they're prepared for anything. As an ER doctor races to save the life of an injured nurse, and communication problems plague the plethora of agencies and SWAT teams on site, it all comes down to the heart of the story, a pregnant woman who continues pushing through labor at gunpoint. And her worst fear ...
Responding to a routine chest pain call, a group of Georgia firefighters and paramedics are taken hostage and held at gunpoint by an armed stranger. Unexpectedly, the terrified firefighters discover they're able to temporarily diffuse the situation using a lot of humorous banter. Amazingly, this seems to warm their captor and buy them precious minutes as an intricate SWAT team rescue plan is initiated. Everyone in the situation delicately dances toward a spectacular rescue that requires some quick thinking from everyone involved. Explosions and gunfire are unavoidable...
In March of 1994, Clifford Lynn Draper hatches a plan to hold a group of twelve hostage on the second floor reading room of the Salt Lake City Public Library. Armed with a handgun and massive explosive device, Draper seems unstoppable and is completely unwilling to negotiate with police on the outside. But Draper hasn't planned for a brave and cunning sheriff's office lieutenant who willingly joins the group of hostages, secretly armed and waiting for his moment to spring into action. As the minutes count down, the secretly implanted cop weighs his options, and ...
A former mail delivery driver, shoots two people and takes others hostage in an office high rise. As tensions rise, an unsuspecting employee 1,000 miles away turns hostage negotiator, taking it upon himself to keep the hostages safe as police and SWAT plan to extract the hostages as safely as possible.
A random plate-check on a stolen car parked outside a hotel turns deadly for police officers as a Bonnie and Clyde-like duo on the run opens fire. Shooting their way out and now on the run, the lovers break into a farmhouse in the middle of the night, taking a family of four hostage. A stand-off ensues with the hostage-takers pushed to the limits of a four-day standoff.
A convicted murderer is on the run, weapons in hand as he heads to his former place of employment. He takes four hostages, then calls radio and television stations telling them his whereabouts so all the world knows who he is and what he wants. But when his demands begin to fail, the hostage taker turns to drugging himself up as he gets ready for a gunfight with police.
As a gunman takes control of a jet and its passengers in Montego Bay, Jamaica, an eight-person crew comprised of two pilots and five flight attendants go into action to defuse the situation. They comfort distraught passengers, put the kids to the back of the plane, and confront the hijacker. One flight attendant takes it upon herself to convince the agitated gunman to release the passengers and negotiate its conclusion.
Shoppers at an electronics store are caught off guard when a group of armed masked men take them hostage. Without a known cause for taking hostages, a gunman shoots one of the hostages in the leg and sends him limping to the authorities with a list of demands. But things go terribly wrong as shots are fired and the SWAT team swoops in to save the hostages who are still alive.
A bus full of Chinese tourists are taken hostage by a former police officer. As the group attempts to reason with the hostage taker, Manila police unsuccessfully try to save the people in the bus, only leading to more hardship.
Two Italian tourists are taken into the jungles of India where they face their captors - a group of Maoist rebels. As they reach the camp, the Italians realize there are many others like them. They are now pawns in a deadly game where ransom to fuel their objectives is the goal and there is no end in sight.
A man in wheelchair enters a post office, taking three hostages citing he is ready to kill innocent people. During the almost nine-hour ordeal, the gunman's only demand is a pizza. His other demands and motives remain unclear as he discharges weapons and makes threats at his hostages. As SWAT and bomb disposal teams shelter behind an armored vehicle, the gunman suddenly surrenders leaving everyone involved baffled at the events of the day.
Newlyweds are robbed and hijacked at gunpoint in Mexico City. The hostage-takers move the couple to a remote location, tying them up and beating them into submission. In a brief moment of reprieve, the wife manages to evade the hostage-takers and hide by climbing high up a tree. Meanwhile her husband also escapes, going door-to-door in the city to find anyone who will help them survive this terrible ordeal and hopefully find his wife alive.