A teacher and at least 22 elementary students were taken hostage by a subject who was allegedly under the influence.
According to police authorities, the event took place on Thursday morning, when an individual entered the private school ‘Hispanoamericano’, located in the town of Pontoroque, in the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, about 15 minutes from Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.
Shortly after 10:45 in the morning, the subject who was later identified as Arnoldo (N) entered the school cafeteria when the primary school children were at recess.
The individual, about 45 years old, took two children in his hands, whom he threatened to cut with a knife. Later, he exchanged one of the children for a teacher, who was also on the site.
After 10:45, the Emergency System 911 registered a call when police, paramedics and soldiers were dispatched to the school and began to implement an operation to rescue the children.
After entering a mediator, the subject demanded in exchange for releasing the minors, a barrel with 200 liters of gasoline, as well as doses of drugs such as ‘ Crystal ‘ and cocaine.
After several hours, dressed as nurses, several police and unarmed soldiers managed to enter the dining room of the school and managed to subdue the individual.
Shortly after 1:30 in the afternoon, the individual was arrested and the minors were released, fortunately, all of them safe and sound.
Outside, a team of paramedics from the Civil Protection and Fire Department of Bahía de Banderas checked them and little by little they were handed over to their parents, who feared the worst outside waiting for their children to be freed.
The individual was identified as Arnoldo “N”, originally from the municipality of Tomatlán, Jalisco, who was transferred to the municipal jail to later be presented before a judge.
