Sablé-sur-Sarthe hostage crisis
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The Sablé-sur-Sarthe hostage crisis began at 2:30 p.m. on March 9, 2006. A 33 year old former high school teacher in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, Sarthe, France, took 23 people, most of them students aged 16-18, hostage with a handgun. He surrendered peacefully and no one was harmed. The teacher suffered from depression in the past and was unemployed at the time. Although the hostage crisis lasted several hours, there was little tension. Students were allowed to call their parents by cell phone and the man promised the school staff that he would not hurt the students. Sablé-sur-Sarthe was closed off and special forces surrounded the school, ready to move in, when the crisis ended.
