Teen Girl Holds Children Hostage in Temple Saturday Night

Police spent approximately two-and-a-half hours negotiating with a 15 year old girl who took two children – ages 9 and 10 – hostage inside a home in the 800 block of E. Avenue M Saturday night.

The situation started around 10:55 PM when officers responded to a report of an armed robbery near the 500 block of E. Union Ave. The victim told officers he’d gone to visit a friend at the home where the hostage situation would later take place. The friend, a teenage girl, asked the victim to give her and a male companion a ride to Miller Park.

One the trio reached the park, the male suspect pulled a handgun and demanded money and property. The victim told officers he pushed the handgun away, left the car, and began running toward houses on E. Union Ave. He reported hearing two shots fired.

Police went to the home of the female suspect and saw the victim’s car abandoned in some bushes nearby. Outside the home, they stopped a man who was walking away from the home and were approached by a woman who said she was the homeowner and that her 9 and 10 year old children were the only people inside.

While officers spoke to the pair, they saw two people moving inside the home who matched descriptions given by the robbery victim. The 15-year-old girl held a gun to her own head and warned officers not to attempt to enter the home or she would shoot herself. She then retreated into the home.

Moments later, the girl appeared at a window with the gun still pointed at her head and her arm around one of the children. She demanded that an officer come to the window, but she retreated when officers said they’d only send someone if she dropped the weapon.

Officers set up a perimeter, then established telephone contact with the girl. She told officers the male suspect had fled and that she and the children were alone in the house.

After 40 minutes of negotiations, the teen released one of the children. She released the second child and surrendered herself to a S.W.A.T. team after another 90 minutes of negotiation. Officer learned she was a friend of the home owner who occasionally stayed at the house.

Officers believed the male suspect was still in the home. After unsuccessfully trying to contact him and obtaining a search warrant, officers sent a S.W.A.T. unit into the home. The unit deployed a gas canister in the home, which forced the male suspect out.

Police have not released the names of the suspects pending submission of the findings of an investigation to the Bell County District Attorney’s Office on Monday. No injuries were reported.